Chronicle of the Shadows
by Panhead17
Summary: The Evolution crew heads off to England after Cerebro picks up a mutant in distress. However, their new arrival's mutant power may have them in over their heads. Can they get the rookie's power under control? Possible Iceman/OC pairing later, I don't really know. Sorry I'm really bad at summaries, the story should be better.
1. Road Trip! (Not Really)

Chronicle of the Shadows

Summary- The Evolution crew heads off to England after Cerebro picks up a mutant in distress. However, their new arrival's mutant power may have them in over their heads. Can they get the rookie's power under control? Possible Iceman/OC pairing later, I don't really know. Sorry I'm really bad at summaries, the story should be better. (I am not going to be going in depth for people's accents for this story, sorry, I just don't have much time and people like Rogue and Gambit are really complicated)

**Chapter 1- Road Trip!**

Charles Xavier's wheelchair glided down the hallway past the entrance to the Danger Room control center. Peering through the window in the door, the Professor saw Logan in what seemed to be a great deal of stress, his eyes bulging and his face bright red as he screamed something unintelligible through the intercom. Charles sighed lightly: another completely ordinary day of training. He had to wonder who had pissed off Logan this time, but knowing the dynamic between the teacher and his students, it was probably everyone in the Danger Room at the time. He continued rolling down the hallway until he reached the entrance to the Cerebro chamber. He wasn't really considering going in at first: he had paperwork to do upstairs (unfortunately, being a group of mutant vigilantes didn't qualify them for tax exempt status). But as he passed the doorway, a little voice in the back off his head urged him to enter. Little voices weren't uncommon for the professor, he was a telepath after all, but this one didn't sound like anyone he knew. Shrugging slightly, he activated the door and rolled inside. Slipping the helmet onto his head he activated Cerebro a began scanning for any new mutants appearing in the continental US. Finding none, he briefly questioned his sanity and started shutting done the telepathy enhancer. Right before he removed the helmet, he noticed a new blip show up in England. He paused for a moment: the team normally didn't go after mutants in different countries, but he was picking up a distinct sense of overwhelming panic and fear coming from this signature. Glad his sanity may still be intact, he rolled out of the room and started gathering the X-men for their next mission.

"Attention everyone" the entire mansion heard in their heads "Everyone please gather in the living room immediately, we have what may be a time sensitive mission that needs immediate attention." Five minutes later, the whole team was suited up and ready to go.

"Thank you everyone for your speed in responding" the Professor started "I have picked up a mutant who seems to be in a state of extreme distress on Cerebro. I am unaware of the situation this mutant is in, but they are definitely in need of our help. Unfortunately, he or she is located in London, so we need to move quickly in order to help."

Kitty raised her hand. "I thought we didn't, like, really have anything to do with mutants in other countries."

"Normally we don't Kitty, but it is our duty to help other mutants in danger no matter where they live. Therefore, a small team will be sent to England in the Blackbird, consisting of me, Scott, Jean, Kurt, Bobby, Logan, and Kitty. Rogue, you will stay here and supervise the other students. We take off in five minutes."

With that, the Professor and the team headed out to load up the Blackbird. The flight over the Atlantic was relatively uneventful, taking only 45 minutes thanks to Forge's upgrades to the jet. When they landed, Charles split them into small teams.

"Logan, you and I will go together, Scott and Jean together, and the Bobby will go with Kurt and Kitty. We don't know what sort of problems this mutant is having, so everyone be careful."

With that, the teams split off and began searching the area Cerebro had defined. Kurt's team headed towards Big Ben and the Parliament building, Logan and the Professor began searching a nearby residential area and Scott and Jean left to check the underground.

Scott and Jean entered a relatively empty subway station and Jean began scanning for the mutant. Upon finding it, as weak as it was, Scott jimmied the lock on a service tunnel and the pair headed in the direction of the signal. They eventually passed from the subway system into the London sewers. The signal continued to get stronger, but the team had no idea where they were in relation to the streets above. The signal reached its height when they reached a junction, where the tunnels converged and dumped the water in to a reservoir 50 feet below.

"The signal's strongest here, but I can't see anyone…" Jean commented, and Scott had to agree. There was nowhere for anyone to hide down here, which means that the mutant had to be above ground somewhere nearby. The pair found an access ladder and began the climb upwards but just as they reached the top, they heard a strange noise coming from what seemed to be the reservoir below.

"How is that possible?" Scott thought, "there's no way anyone could survive a fall down that hole, and there's nowhere for them to go once they're there." However, upon hearing the sound once again, Scott and Jean confirmed that it was indeed a human crying out, and it was definitely coming from below.

The sound seemed to be a cry of pain or fear, but it was barely audible over the waterfall and was hard to understand. Jean and Scott approached the edge of the drop off and listened carefully. This time they heard more of a shriek, which changed midway through into a much louder, harsher, and definitely inhuman growl.

Jean and Scott looked at each other, Jean contacted the Professor and Logan, telling them what they had found, and both of them began slowly backing away from the hole. The growling continued, and suddenly a massive black form leaped from the hole. The pair didn't want to fight whatever the hell this thing was because Jean's telepathy told her that this was the mutant they had come to London to find.

As they scampered up the ladder, the beast leaped at them, clearing the forty foot space in one bound. It appeared to be a giant black creature with a wolf-like appearance, standing on two legs, with four large clawed fingers on each paw/hand. Its long, snout-like face had teeth at least 4 inches long, and its pure black eyes glowed with an inner fire. Towering at a staggering nine to ten feet tall, the creature lashed out with its seven some foot, heavily muscled arm and threw Scott twenty feet into the opposite wall of the sewer. Jean tried to psychically blast the beast, but it seemed to have no effect. The creature turned on Jean picking her up with seemingly no effort and was about to throw her God knows where when Scott sat up and blasted the creatures arm with an optic blast. Dropping Jean, the creature turned its full attention back to Scott, revealing its arm was mangled from the blast, but quickly regenerating in a manner similar to Logan's healing factor. The creature showed no pain however, and leapt at Scott with its five inch talons extended. Scott blasted the creature back with another blast and Jean pulled the ladder from the wall with here telekinesis and wrapped it around the creature, trapping the creatures arms.

It struggled against the metal ladder, roaring and growling nonstop before it finally seemed to give up, slumping slightly and stopped straining against the ladder. Almost instantly, the creature was obscured in a cloud of black smoke. Through the smoke the pair could see the figure shrinking and disappearing.

As the smoke cleared, the giant creature was gone, replaced by a small pale figure that slumped out of the improvised ladder binding as it fell unconscious to the floor. Jean and Scott stared in disbelief as they saw that the source of all this trouble, and the person behind the giant creature that had attacked them was a small teenage girl.


	2. Dafag is up? (sorry im bad at names)

**Author Note- I've changed the format of my story little bit, it's been a while since I've written prose. I will probably be updating fairly quickly until the end of July, when I'm going on a family vacation to Missouri. College visit woot woot. But anyway, THIS IS NOT A SONG FIC but I was at least partially inspired by "Tragedy+Time" by Rise Against and "Those Nights" by Skillet (the second will probably become more apparent later.) I really don't know where this is going to wind up, I'm just kinda making this up as I go along. Nevertheless, please rate and review so I can improve please! I do not own the X-men (unfortunately)**

**Chapter 2- Dafuq is dis? Dafaq is dat? Dafaq are you?**

Scott and Jean stared in shock at the girl who was clearly behind the creature that had just attacked them. She was probably average height for her age, about 5'4" and had blond hair cut to shoulder length, with several stripes of red and purple running through it. Only adding to the mystery was the seemingly out of place black tattoo almost engulfing her right hand and wrist.

"What the hell are we gonna do with her now?" asked Scott.

"I… honestly have no idea. We need to get her to the surface right away though, she's unconscious and God knows _that's_ never a good sign." replied Jean.

The pair located another exit (the first one had been rendered unusable due to Jean's inventive use of the ladder in trapping their adversary. Jean then levitated the unconscious girl while Scott guided her through the manhole up to the surface. Moments later, the Professor and Logan arrived, having responded to Jean's telepathic message. Kurt, Kitty, and Bobby arrived seconds later. They all gathered around the girl as Scott explained what had occurred in the sewer.

"Very interesting indeed." the Professor commented when Scott was finished. "It would appear that our new friend here has an uncontrollable mutation, and that seems to be the cause of all her distress. We need to get her back to Hank in the med-lab so we can begin analyzing this situation. Jean, help me move our visitor into the Blackbird."

Once back at the mansion, Jean and Scott delivered the unconscious girl to Dr. McCoy in the med-lab, and he began analyzing her mutation. What he found was shocking. Just as he started to summon Charles to the room, he noticed that the girl was regaining consciousness. Knowing his appearance would probably cause some problems if it was the first thing she saw, Hank summoned Charles and Logan to the med-lab. Soon after they arrived, the girl opened her eyes.

"Hello child. Please do not be alarmed. My name is Professor Charles Xavier. This is Logan. Are you in any pain or distress?"

"I… I don't think so…" she replied.

"That's good, very good. You are currently sitting in the med-lab of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children in New York. We are very sorry to have to pull you away from your home but this is where we are best able to analyze your mutation and provide help."

"No, no, that's okay. It's not like I had anyone there anyway…"

"May I ask you your name child?"

"Korey. Korey Lassetter. My memory is really fuzzy, where exactly did you find me?"

"I picked up your signature in London a few hours ago- I'm a telepath, you see- and when we arrived, a creature attacked part of my team in the sewers, and that creature turned out to be, well, you."

"I knew it. Every time, this always happens. I black out and wake up to find I accidentally attacked something or mauled someone. I can't do anything about it, so I finally just moved into the sewer system to stop myself from hurting others."

"That is why we brought you back here. With help, you may be able to one day control your mutation, and prevent this kind of thing from happening."

"That's great, I guess. But just as a warning, people have tried to help me before, and they always wind up injured or worse. Nothing can contain that thing when it gets out."

"I think you'll find our help a bit more effective. I am a telepath, as I mentioned before, and I can help you overcome the mental barriers that keep you from control. Now, Hank, have you completed your analysis of Korey's mutation."

"I have, and it is very interesting indeed." Hank replied. "It would appear that the creature- I have taken to calling it a shadowform- is actually a creature from another dimension that can be drawn out at will, theoretically, I guess. I need to observe the mutation at work in order to draw more complete conclusions, but based on what Scott and Jean saw, it appears the creature is quite large, strong, agile, and apparently possesses a healing factor comparable to yours, Logan."

"No one has anything like me, Hank, but I trust what those two have to say."

"Oh I almost forgot." Charles interjected. "Korey, this is Dr. Hank McCoy, also known as Beast- I think his mutation is fairly self-explanatory- and this is Logan, who due to his powerful healing factor, is around two hundred years old. He also has adamantium claws, but hopefully you'll never be on the receiving end of those."

"Nice to meet you all. As you probably heard, I'm Korey and my mutation enjoys mauling people."

"I'm sure it's not that bad" Bobby said as he walked into the room. He was intrigued by their new arrival's powers- it didn't hurt that he found her to be quite cute.

"Oh trust me, it is. I'm Korey, who are you?'

"My name's Bobby, or the Iceman if you want. I just came down here to check up on you, I was on the team that found you in London."

"I'm fine now, thank you. That's actually really sweet of you though, making sure I'm okay."

"You know, the whole damsel-in-distress thing, I couldn't resist."

"Well for your information, I am perfectly capable of taking care of my self, thank you very much."

"Oh I never doubted that. Anyway, Professor, do you want me to give her a tour of the mansion?"

"If Hank clears her to leave, go right ahead Bobby."

Bobby turned to Hank. "I don't see any reason not to, but just take it easy for a little bit, just to be safe."

"Sweet. Alright then, let's go meet the rest of the team."

**Woohoo second chapter, I like this one a lot better than the first one. I could never really find someone I liked shipping with Bobby in Evolution, so I just made someone up for the job. We'll see how far this goes, cuz honestly I have no idea. The third chapter might actually be up today too, apparently I've got a lot more free time than I thought… Oh Well! I ain't got a problem with writing it, so just rate and review if you have a problem with how I'm writing it, or even if you don't. Just rate and review already ya dummy. Ok panhead out. **


	3. Introductions

**Author's Note- I have revised the first chapter slightly to make it easier to read, thanks to reviews (or one in particular) telling me that this was even possible. Thank you for that, btw. Anyway, we're continuing from when Korey's tour started, although I'm going to skip over most of it, sorry. Our new mutant friend is going to meet most of the Evolution crew, possibly including a second OC that I have made up but will not be featured in this story. A different one, definitely, but not today. Anywho here it is.**

**Chapter 3- Introductions**

Korey was ecstatic. Not only did she have a new home in a massive mansion surrounded by people like her, she was getting a personal tour from (as far as she was concerned) the cutest guy in the place. The walked past the Cerebro chamber (Bobby commenting on how the Professor had used it to locate her) and then past the Danger room control entrance.

"Pick it up, ya goddamn pansies, my grandmother could have done that faster than you!" The pair heard Logan screaming from down the hall. He had clearly forgotten to close the door, the chamber was usually soundproofed. Bobby and Korey walked in to observe.

"Alright, that fuzzy blue guy over there is Kurt, he's a teleporter. The girl with the brown ponytail is Kitty, she can phase through…"

Bobby was cut off by another explosion of temper from Logan as Kurt failed to time a jump correctly and was mowed down by the simulated Sentinel. "Damnnit Elf, if this was real life you be freakin' dead right now!" Kurt nodded in his direction then turned away, muttering something about how in real life Logan wouldn't be scrutinizing their every move either.

"As I was saying, Kitty can phase through stuff, Rogue –the one with the white stripe in her hair- is a power borrower, a touch can put you into a coma. Finally, that guy with the staff looking thing is Archer, he's actually blind and can instill fear and hallucinations by touching people."

"If he's blind, how can he fight?" asked Korey, surprised. The young man down there didn't seem to have any difficulty navigating his surroundings.

"He has an insane sense of hearing thanks to the x-gene and his blindness. He fights using drunken fist style, it works well with his blindness."

"Cool. These people all sound pretty awesome."

"Most of them are, once you get to know them. How about we head up to the rec room and meet the people who aren't getting their asses kicked verbally by Logan."

"Ya got a problem with that, frosty?"

"Not at all Logan, we were just leaving."

They walked out of the room and continued upstairs. Once in the rec room they met Amara, Jamie, Rahne, Roberto, Ray, Sam, and Jubilee. Korey introduced herself and the group sat talking for several minutes before Storm entered.

"Oh, Korey, this is Ororo, more commonly Storm. She's one of our teachers and has control of the weather."

"Nice to meet you Miss. Ororo, I'm Korey and my mutation… well it's a bit hard to explain."

"A pleasure meeting you Korey. And I do know about your mutation, Hank told me all about it. He seems very intrigued by it, but that's typical of him."

"Nice to know someone appreciates it. It can be very… destructive. I can't exactly control it right now."

"Charles mentioned that too. Speaking off which, that's actually the reason I'm here. The Professor wants to talk to you in his study. Don't worry, you're not in trouble, it's just some housekeeping things and your mutation."

"No problem. Uhh, where is it exactly, I'm kind of new…"

"Of course. Up the main stairs and to the left."

Korey entered the Professor's study and was surprised at how neat it was. She would have thought juggling a mutant vigilante group, a massive home, and a boarding school would have produced more paperwork. Then again, as a telepath, he was probably able to keep track of his own things.

"Ahh, Korey you're here. Come, sit down." She walked in and sat. "One, I'd like to formally invite you to stay here at the Xavier Institute. Judging by your attitude in the med-lab I assume that was your plan but I'd like to extend the invitation nevertheless."

"You assume correctly Professor, I really don't have anything to go back to."

"Good, good. When we're done here, Bobby can show you to your room. You two seem to have been getting along swimmingly."

Korey blushed slightly. "He just kinda came up and started talking to me, he seems pretty nice…"

The Professor chuckled slightly. "It needs no explanation, child, I am a telepath, remember. Speaking of which, I'd just like to inform you that neither me nor Jean, the other resident mind reader, will intrude on your thoughts without your express permission. Do you understand that?"

"Yes I do, and I was gonna ask about that so thank you for bringing it up."

"Of course Korey. Now the third and final thing I'd like to discuss is your mutation. As I believe I told you before, I believe I may be able to help you with your control problems. I will work in sessions as long as you wish them to be, if that is okay with you."

"Yeah, no problem. I- I want to be able to walk around without worrying about that… thing popping out and hurting my friends."

"That is a good attitude to have about the subject. Anyway, we can work on scheduling later, and that concludes what I wanted to tell you. Do you have any questions for me?"

"I can't think of anything, but if I do I'll let you know."

"Very good. Now, you may leave and I'm sure Bobby would be more than happy to escort you to your room."

Korey blushed slightly again as she rose from the chair. "Thank you Professor."

"I just wish to see my students happy. And with that, I need my beauty sleep. Goodnight Korey, and we can discuss your training regimen with Logan in the morning."

"Goodnight Professor. And thanks for everything."

**There it is. A little shorter than the first two. Archer is my new OC character, in case you couldn't tell. He isn't featured in this story, but he may be mentioned again. His power is fear mongering, basically. He's also blind. But he'll get his own story eventually, so you'll hear about him later. Also, just a quick note, my age approximations for everyone is- Jean and Scott- 19, out of high school, Rouge and Archer- 18, senior year, Kurt and Kitty- 17, Junior year, Bobby and Korey, 16, sophomore year, and all the new mutants are 15-16 and mostly freshmen. Just so ya know. That's just always how I viewed them in the show. Anyway, rate and review please, I'd love to know what you think.**


	4. First Strike

**Author's Note- Ok wow apparently I am just sitting around not doing anything all day (wait a minute…). Three chapters in one day, what's up with that! Don't expect this pace to continue though, I have work for the next 6 days then vacation time with no computer. I decided I need to specify what and when is occurring here. Apocalypse never happened and never will cuz Magneto didn't destroy that giant spider thing. However, the Brotherhood, Acolytes, and Sentinels are still in full swing, so that should give us some good action. And now, ladies and gentleman, presenting the amazing John Allerdyce!**

**I do not own X-men or Lucky Charms.**

**Chapter 4- First Strike**

Bobby guided Korey to her new room and wished her goodnight. Korey examined her new home briefly before collapsing into her bed. She must have been more tired than she thought because almost immediately after she laid down she fell asleep.

She woke up the next morning feeling excited at the prospects of her new life. She had a comfortable home, new friends (hopefully maybe more than friends one day she though, thinking of Bobby) and a chance to get her mutation under control. Could anything make this day bad. Actually, better not think about that. A sudden beast attack might dampen that mood slightly.

She walked down to the kitchen, opening the pantry to find it well stocked. She pulled out her favorite cereal –Lucky Charms if you must know- and poured herself a large bowl before striking up a lively conversation with Bobby and Kurt about who looked better with Kurt's fur. Logan entered the room with an interesting bed head due to his sideburns. Despite his appearance, he seemed wide awake, and walked up to Korey.

"Hey kid, we gotta talk. You need to get a training schedule set up. Most of the kids your age train together, and you can do that to if ya want, or we can work out somethin' else based on your schedule."

"The group training sounds fine Logan, but I'll warn you, you don't want me to use my mutation and I'm not in the best of shape."

"Not a problem kid, I'll getcha whipped into shape in no time. Just look at Rogue, she don't use her mutation either and she can hold her own in the Danger room."

"That sound great Logan, when does that start?"

"Well since it's summer and there's no school, warm-ups start in… 10 minutes."

"Ten minutes!? Damnnit man, I wanted to at least get started on breakfast first!"

"Just kiddin' ya little spitfire. Training starts at 9:00 sharp. I can tell you and me are gonna get along just."

"Ok, fine. seeya then." Logan walked out of the room while straightening his hair. "Wait a minute, Logan, 9:00 is in like 12 minutes!"

"I told ya you had more than ten minutes!"

"…Damn you too."

After one of the most intense work outs she'd ever had, Korey took an ice cold shower and slumped onto her bed. She had been told she was fortunate: as the odd mutant out, she had a room to herself until the next female mutant showed up. She decided a power nap was in order before lunch. She was dozing off when she heard a knock on her door.

"Whaddya want!?" she yelled back, somewhat crabbily.

"Korey, it's me, Logan. Just lemme in."

"Ugghhhh fine." she relented.

Logan entered her room and sat down on the desk that was already in the room.

"You okay? I know I pushed ya kinda hard today, but that's how it's gonna be everyday so I figured you should get used to it."

"Nah, I'm okay now, I just haven't worked out like that in a long time."

"You and Bobby seem ta be getting' along okay."

"Y- You have no idea what you're talking about, I've known him for all of twelve hours."

"Hehe, I'm just jokin' sport. Anyway, Charles –the Professor- asked me to come down here and ask ya what's up."

"That doesn't sound like something he'd say."

"You know what I mean. Point is, all us X-men have codenames of a sort, I'm Wolverine, Bobby's Iceman, et cetera. So now that you've decided to become an official member of the team, we need a codename for ya."

"Oh. Wasn't really expecting this. Hmmm… I don't really know."

"It's okay kid, just lemme know whenever you come with somethin'."

"Will do. Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna take a power nap before lunch so…"

"You got it. Seeya kid."

Korey was awoken abruptly by the Professor's voice in the back of her head.

"Attention X-men, we have a situation. The Acolytes are attacking the warehouse district and we need to mobilize immediately. Meet on the front lawn ASAP."

_The Acolytes? Who the hell… wait aren't they the ones Bobby was talking about that followed around the human magnet dude? Whatever, better get ready._

Korey pulled on the uniform that had been left in her closet, admiring the comfortable fit and material and liking the personalized black gloves and boots that Logan had dropped off the night before. She ran out to the lawn and the X-men raced off the stop to Acolytes.

When they arrived, the four men were tearing up a dock. Pyro noticed the new arrivals and ran over, flanked by two massive fiery tigers.

"Ladies and gentleman, the amazing John Allerdyce!" he yelled, propelling the tigers forward towards them. Bobby and Roberto intercepted the creations while the rest of the X-men scattered. Scott followed Ray and Storm towards the giant metal man that was tossing storage containers around like toys. Korey saw Logan growl and run off towards the large hairy man at the end of the dock, flanked by Jean and Amara. Rogue noticed a rather attractive looking man in a trench coat and ran after him, yelling.

"Come back her, ya cowardly swamp rat, Ah'm gonna kick ya ass when I get ya!"

The man replied in a definite Cajun accent "Aw, Cherie, I din't know yo' cared so much."

Kitty leaned over and whispered in Korey's ear.

"That's Gambit, don't he and Rogue make a cute couple? They're so, like perfect for each other!"

Despite the violence Rogue displayed at the Cajun, she had to agree. They just looked cute together. But that line of thought was cut off as a man in red suddenly descended from the sky directly in front of her.

"Ahh, so this is the new X-man. Very interesting. And what is your power, child?"

"Get away from me you creep, trust me, you don't wanna see my mutation."

"I disagree. And if you will not obey me, I will rip apart your friends until you do."

With that, the man Korey was fairly sure was Magneto raised his hand and Korey watched in horror as Logan suddenly flew through the air towards him. Magneto gestured again and Logan's limbs began bending at weird angle: it looked unnatural and definitely painful.

"The single disadvantage of an adamantium skeleton." Magneto commented. "No defense from me. Now SHOW ME!"

"You want it?" Korey yelled, unsure if this was the best decision she could make. "You got it!"

With that, Korey concentrated hard on the creature she knew lurked inside her, and let it loose. Korey felt herself blacking out and saw the creature begin to materialize around her. The last thing she saw before going completely unconscious was the look of abject terror on Magneto's face as he saw the horror that was her mutation.

Korey woke up in the med-lab for the second time and found Logan, the Professor, hank, and Bobby leaning over her.

"What did I miss? Did we win?"

"Thanks to you child, yes. You started tossing Piotr around like he was nothing and Magneto retreated before you destroyed his henchmen."

"Piotr? Which one was that?"

"He's also called Colossus, he was the giant metal man Scott was fighting."

"I was tossing _him_ around? He must have been like 8 feet tall!"

"That's why Magneto pulled back. You would have destroyed them all if he hadn't. After that, Bobby had to freeze you in a block of ice so the creature didn't attack our team. Left Logan with a nasty stomachache before we figured that out."

"By stomachache, he means I had my intestines hangin' out kid. You're shadowform thingy is powerful."

"Figured that out after I almost disemboweled a man in a bomb squad suit on one of those rampages. Unfortunately, I can't control it at all. Sorry about that Logan."

"Ain't a problem kid, I've had far worse. Try "close range cannon to the gut" on for size."

"That sounds absolutely grizzly, you'll have to tell me about that one. Oh Logan."

"Yeah kiddo?"

"I think I know what I want my codename to be."

"And what's that?"

"Shade."

**There we are! Korey's first fight. I'll describe one in detail later, but do you like the Romy I threw in there? Favorite X-men ship, by far. But anyway… rate and review please! The next chapter will probably get some romantic action going, as while as that 'Those Nights' stuff I mentioned before. So yeah. I apologize in advance for whatever hellspawned story I produce in that chapter, I'm not really one for romantic writing. But that's a story for later. Also, I've been wanting to do that John Allerdyce thing for forever, it totally seems like something he'd do. Well, I'm tired and I got work in the morning. Panhead out! **


	5. Those Nights

**Author's Note- Ok I'm really happy right now cuz I just discovered that the X-men Evolution Wiki has a page solely dedicated to Rouge and Gambit's relationship. Honestly, go look at it. So now we get to the touchy-feely part of the story, or at least one of them. I'm not great at writing this kinda stuff so sorry if it sucks.**

**Chapter 5- Those Nights**

Bobby woke up in the middle of the night feeling incredibly hungry and needed to take a serious leak. He rose groggily from his bed, seeing the clock that read 1:38 in glowing red numbers. Not wanting to wake up a still sleeping Roberto, he stumbled to the door in the dark and managed to reach the bathroom without serious injury. After taking care of business he made his way to the kitchen to satisfy his midnight cravings.

As he felt his way along the wall he thought about earlier that day –or yesterday really- and the fight they had had with the Acolytes. What exactly they hoped to accomplish by smashing up a dock was beyond him, but what really concerned him was what had happened to Korey. That… thing she had become… it terrified him. He didn't understand how Korey could live with that kind of uncontrollable power. The beast had disemboweled Logan with you swipe and if his reaction had been a second slower it would have gotten Storm too. It was only by a miracle that he was able to freeze it long enough for Korey to return.

Even thinking about the scene made him feel uncomfortable, he wondered how bad it was on Korey, she had to live through that transformation and everything. Bobby reached the kitchen and proceeded to pig out on the Chinese takeout someone had foolish left in the fridge.

As he began to return to his room, he saw a light from the rec room. Intrigued as to who else was up this early, he made his way over. He was slightly disappointed by the empty coach, he had half expected to find Jean or Scott making out or even Rouge and Gambit. Everyone knew they had a thing for each other, and as Gambit was a master thief he could have gotten in, but there appeared to be no one in the room. That is, until Bobby noticed the small lone figure in front of the coach. They were curled up in an upright fetal position with their arms crossed. They didn't appear to be paying any attention to what was on the television.

Intrigued, Bobby entered the room and saw that the figure was in fact Korey. She appeared quite upset and it looked like she had been crying. He walked over and sat down next to her. She flinched upon suddenly noticing him but then seemed to relax.

"You're not afraid to sit next to me? Knowing what I can do, what I just did?"

"Not really. All I see right now is someone sitting here at an ungodly hour that clearly needs some help."

"There's nothing you can do to help me, don't you get it? I can't make friends, I can't fit in, I can't be comfortable anywhere because as soon as I let my guard down, I wind up killing someone or destroying something. I can't control it, and it scares me."

"I'd be lying if I said that thing didn't scare me as well, but I… well, I care about you and some stupid multidimensional beast isn't going to stop me from trying to help you."

"You just don't get it do you? I saw the footage of what happened, if I was two feet to the left that blow would've hit you and not Logan. Logan can take it, that I know, but you can't! I don't think I could live with myself if I hurt you. Or anyone else here." she added.

"What I'm trying to tell you is that I know that, but I don't care. You've always shut people out because you're worried about hurting them, but the people here care about you. _I_ care about you Korey. You're just like Rouge used to be. She couldn't touch anyone because of her mutation and she shut everyone out so she couldn't accidentally hurt them. Granted, your mutation is a bit different, but the idea is the same. The people here aren't going to stop trying to help you whether you shut them out or not."

"I- I just-" Korey faltered and the pair sat in silence for several minutes.

"We can help you here. You'll see. You might even learn to fully control your mutation like Rogue did. I just don't want to see you cry anymore, Korey. It's that whole "damsel-in-distress thing again."

Korey couldn't help but crack a smile at that one. "I already told you, I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, but that doesn't mean you always have to."

The pair sat in silence for another few minutes before Bobby realized Korey had fallen asleep. Bobby stifled a yawn of his own and gently picked her up off the ground and placed her on the coach. He spent a minute admiring her face before turning off the TV and making his way back to his room.

Despite his best efforts, Korey had been roused when Bobby picked her up and laid her on the coach. Now as she lay there thinking about what he had said, she felt a little happier. As she dozed off again, her favorite song rolled through her head one last time.

"_Stay up late and we'll talk all night,_

_In a dark room lit by the TV light._

_Through all the hard times in my life,_

_Those nights kept me alive."_

**Well there it is. Another shorter chapter, but I think I did okay on the romancey stuff. It did turn out less romantic than I had thought, but that isn't really a problem for me right now. The song is "Those Nights" by Skillet in case the title didn't give it away. I do not own that song, nor do I own the X-men, btw. Next chapter might be up tonight or tomorrow afternoon. Again, don't expect this blistering pace to continue, this is just a dull week for me. Panhead out. **


	6. The Morning After

**Author's Note- Ok so I'm very sorry to what probably amounts to like three people who are following this story for not updating. I was busier than I expected. Fight with the Brotherhood this time. And don't worry, the Sentinels will eventually make an appearance but I'm gonna wait until our friend masters her powers. I have no idea when that'll happen though so it might be a while. Sorry. Now here's the most innuendo-ly charged title I can think of-**

**Chapter 6- The Morning After**

**(Hehe told ya)**

Korey awoke the next morning feeling strange. She remembered her conversation with Bobby quite clearly, but she didn't quite know how she felt about it. On one hand, she was no closer to mastering her powers, and could accidentally kill anyone of these people in their sleep. On the other hand, none of said people seemed to care about this, and she knew they weren't going to give up on her, even if she had long ago given up on herself.

Checking the clock, she realized it was still fairly early in the morning (about 6 o'clock) and decided to get a head start on the day. She jumped up and ate her breakfast without interruptions until Logan walked in, surprised to see anyone up as early as he.

"Sup kid. Somethin' buggin' ya? No one's ever up this early in this joint."

"Just thinking about some stuff. Hey you don't mind if I get a quick run in before people wake up do you? I feel like if you're gonna push me as hard as you are I should work on getting in shape."

"No problem. Jogging around the yard a couple times should do ya pretty well. I'll be in the Danger Room for about an hour, you can come watch if ya want."

"I'll consider it. I've never really gotten a chance to see you fight, y'know after the sudden interruption."

"True enough kid. Talk t' ya later then."

With that, Logan went off to go "warm up" on level twelve in the Danger Room. Even Scott and Jean only trained on level ten. Then again, Korey figured, when you're essentially immortal, you gotta do a lot to really get the blood flowing.

Korey changed into something a little more suitable to working out and ran a few laps around the mansion. It was definitely bigger than it appeared, and by the time she finished the last lap it was almost 7 and she was quite winded.

Still wanting to see how many Sentinels Logan could take on as a "warm up," Korey hurried over to the Danger Room to see if she could still catch him. She entered the control room just as Logan cranked it up for his last push. The computer indicated he was on level 15 and Korey was shocked by the number of enemies. Lasers and saw blades flew through a crowd of at least 30 simulated Sentinels as they all focused their destructive fury on the man in the center of the room. Logan fought like a madman, deflecting saw blades and giant metal blocks that were somehow flying throughout the room, dodging Sentinel rockets and arms, and absorbing laser fire like a sponge.

They seemed at a standoff. Anything the room could throw at Logan was deflected, dodged, or simply had no effect, but every piece of equipment Logan brought down was instantly replaced. Korey now knew why the door to the chamber locked above level 7: walking into their would have been a massacre.

She watched as Logan executed a stunning display of athletic ability; scampering up one of the Sentinels like a spider, then decapitating it in a single blow and leaping backwards, burying his claws into the heads of two Sentinels behind him, using his momentum to flip behind the his impaled targets and kick them into two more. 5 of the giant robots taken down in under three seconds: it was an impressive accomplishment.

Korey knew now why no one dared to try and piss Logan off. If this is what he was capable of against giant robots, she didn't want to see what would happen against people. She was suddenly glad that this man was on their side: she never wanted to get in a fight with him like this. After taking down a few more Sentinels, Logan slumped against a wall, clearly exhausted by his effort. He yelled out to the computer to shut down the simulation, then sat down and watched his somewhat mangled body knit itself back together.

Logan and Korey walked back into the kitchen, both sweaty and exhausted from their morning workouts. Bobby and Kurt, the only two people in the kitchen as of this point, gave Korey a weird look: no one was ever up early enough to work out with Logan. Then again, Bobby remembered, Korey had spent the night on the couch. That probably wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep.

"Sup" Bobby greeted them.

"Not much, kid. Your friend here was being productive and took an early morning run."

"That would explain a lot. So Korey, are you turning into a health nut like Logan now?

"Nah, not really but I gotta work to get in shape for his mandatory workouts and Danger Room sessions."

"Makes sense. By the way, the Professor came in a few minutes ago and was wondering if you were free for a 'conversation' he called it. Probably somethin' to do with controlling your mutation."

"Yeah, I'm free now. I'll see if I can find him."

Korey entered the Professor's office to find him sitting behind his desk.

"Ahh, Korey you're here. Do you think now would be a good time for your first session to try and control your powers?"

"As good a time as any, I guess."

"Good, good. Now we shall begin by having you clear your mind completely."

The session went on like this, with Charles having her concentrate on various things and clearing her head, occasionally probing through her mind. Korey wasn't quite sure how it would help, but she trusted Xavier's word.

A few weeks passed like this: Korey usually got up early for a morning run, sessions with the Professor after that, and Logan's killer workouts pretty much the rest of the day. Korey noticed that the intense schedule was honing her body and mind, and while she really couldn't tell if her mutation was being controlled, but she hadn't had an 'episode' since she had moved in, past the battle with the Acolytes.

It had been a rather uneventful few weeks apparently, but that changed on the day exactly three weeks after she moved in. The Professor alerted everyone that the Brotherhood was on a rampage at the local mall. Korey couldn't help but wonder why all the X-men's enemies chose such meaningless targets.

The team arrived at the mall to find chaos everywhere. All the civilians had been evacuated, but that only removed obstacles for the Brotherhood. Merchandise and paper lay everywhere and what looked like the remains of the food courts smoothie stand dripped from the ceiling.

The X-men split up and began their assault. Korey followed Bobby and Rogue towards the back of the store where they ran into a peculiar looking teenager with pure white hair. He bore a striking resemblance to Magneto, Korey noticed. This must Pietro, his son.

Before the three of them could even think, Pietro disappeared and came rushing back armed with a baseball bat. Bobby tried to freeze him but Quicksilver dodged easily and gave him a nasty hit over the head with the bat. Bobby went down and Korey felt a twinge in her stomach. She always hated seeing Bobby hurt, whether it was in the Danger Room or real life. Rogue touched Bobby's face, absorbing his powers and turning into her own ice form. She and Quicksilver entered an elegant dance of ice and splinters as the two mutants struck at each other. Pietro finally seemed to gain the upper hand and sent Rogue flying across the room with a well placed strike. The pit in Korey's stomach deepened as she realized the speed demon was approaching her.

She could feel the beast inside her this time. It struggled against her self-placed walls, urging her to release it. All the time Pietro took a leisurely approach.

"So you're the kid father was so afraid of. I don't really understand why, you look pathetic."

"You'd be surprised" Korey responded in a deep growl that was definitely not her own. The beast was free now, there was no doubt about it. She could feel it approaching but surprisingly, she didn't seem to be blacking out. Whether this was a good or bad thing, she couldn't tell. Pietro still seemed at ease however, confident in his abilities. The shadowform appeared completely and Korey felt as if she had been pulled into the backseat, watching someone else drive: she could see what was happening, but couldn't change it.

Pietro cam at her with his baseball bat, but the creature was to quick, dodging sideways with instants to spare. He came at her again from d=behind, catching the back of the creature's knee. Korey felt a twinge of pain in the same location, somewhat surprised about this turn of events.

The creature was mad now, and it was going to do something about it. The next time Pietro ran past her, the shadowform stuck out its arm giving Quicksilver a high speed clothesline. Before he could fall all the way to the ground, the beast delivered a punishing kick that sent the teenager into a concrete wall, out cold.

Korey could only watch as the beast loped off on all fours, single handedly taking out the rest of the Brotherhood. Toad tried to blind her (was it really her? Korey wondered. Or is it 'it') with his tounge, and found himself clinging for dear life to a skylight. Blob charged her, only to end up getting piledriven face first into a central fountain. Lance set the building rumbling, but was quickly removed by a high velocity clawed gut punch. Wanda began charging her own powers, but was stopped as she was thrown head first through the front glass doors.

Now came the part she feared. Out of enemies, the creature turned to the nearest X-man, in this case an unconscious Sunspot. The creature took a flying leap, claws extended and Korey screamed in her head and desperately tried to stop the beast. Right before it struck, it faltered slightly, giving Storm the opening she was looking for. Korey could feel the current from the high powered lightning strike course through her. The beast was thrown into a wall, but after only a few seconds began to rise once again. Bobby slid over and yelled something to the creature, begging Korey to try and stop. Tears slid now her intangible cheeks as she desperately tried to take control. No such luck. The beast lunged at Bobby and he was forced to deep freeze it to stop her.

Korey felt the beast's presence fading, and as she popped back into existence, she curled up in the fetal position and cried her eyes out. Logan broke open the icy shell, and Bobby carried her over to the X-van (**stupid I know, but are they really gonna take the jet to a mall in town? That's just wasteful**). Bobby laid Korey down in the backseat, sitting next to her. She curled up in his lap and he stroked her hair, whispering comforting things in her ear. When they reached the mansion, he carried her to the med-lab so Hank could check on her.

Bobby stayed in the med-lab the entire time, holding her hand as Hank examined her and she cried herself to sleep. There wasn't really anything he could do to truly help her but he tried to comfort her as best he could. Once again, Bobby couldn't even imagine how distraught and devastated she must be. But none of that mattered. He would make sure she was safe, always, no matter what.

**Wow, really long chapter I know. Sorry if it seemed like I was rambling but I went off on a tangent and I really wanted to get to the fight scene. My writing kinda degrades in quality at about the half way point, but whatever. This didn't really reach where I wanted it to, but again, whatever. I happy with where I wound up, and I will continue on to where I wanted to go in the next chapter. Again, sorry for the late update, I know SO many of you where oh so worried about it. **


	7. Danger on the Homefront

**Author's Note- So once again, new chapter. Again, don't expect this to keep up like this. Anyway, I'm really psyched for Guardians of the Galaxy, I might go watch it on Saturday. This time up, troubles in the med-lab, and more fighting. But you'll find that out soon hehe. I once again apologize for my shoddy writing at the end of the last chapter, I just kinda wanted to end it because it was turning into a rambling piece of crap. So here ya go.**

**Chapter 7- Danger on the Homefront**

Logan and Hank stood with the Professor in the med-lab. They stood by as Bobby sat at Korey's bedside, holding her sleeping hand in his. They held a whispered conversation amongst themselves.

"Hank, do you have any further information regarding Korey's mutation?" Charles asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do. It would appear that the creature comes from an alternate dimension but we already knew that. However, it appears that Korey's body actually recedes into that dimension during the transformation. You should be able to tell if her mind remains inside, Charles."

"I noticed that. Her psyche remains in the beast, but as of yet does not have an active link with it, thus causing her control problem."

"That thing's healing is damn impressive. You were actually right Hank, that thing is on par with what I've got." Logan added.

"So we have determined that it is safe to injure the shadowform, as Korey will not sustain any lasting damage."

"Correct Charles. And until the control issue is solved, Logan and Bobby are probably our best bet for containing the creature."

"I guess that's a good thing." growled Logan.

"You could say so. This provides us with a set of options until I can help the girl with controlling her powers."

"Hey Professor, I think she's waking up." Bobby cut in.

Korey stirred in bed, drawing the talking adults closer. She seemed to be in the throes of some sort of nightmare, moving weakly but in clear distress. She clenched Bobby's hand tighter as her writhing grew more intense. Whatever she was seeing, it must have been terrifying. She let out a blood-curdling scream and her normally striking green eyes shot open, showing they were pitch black. Iris, sclera, everything was a glassy black.

Almost instantly, black smoke started curling about her writhing body, obscuring it from view. The assembled group now realized exactly what was happening and all took a step back, except Logan. The shadowform materialized fully, leaping off the bed and across the room. Logan growled and leapt after it and the two wrestled across the floor. Getting over his initial shock, Iceman shot ice beams at the shadowform to try and help contain it. Logan and Bobby slowly hacked away at the beast's endurance and the Professor began psychically probing the beast, trying to find Korey's psyche beneath the creature.

Hank finally stopped taking rapid notes and leaped into the fray. Charles finally located Korey's psyche, and unsurprisingly found it to be in a slumbering state, not quite conscious. He tried to wake her, knowing that if she could be roused she could take control of the beast. Meanwhile, Bobby had trapped the creature against the wall with ice and was slowly freezing the creature in. Suddenly, Xavier connected with Korey's psyche and the beast's eyes changed from black to Korey's normal green. Everyone stopped, surprised at this change of events.

Then as suddenly as they had appeared, the green eyes were reabsorbed, and the beast began to struggle once again. It destroyed Bobby's ice wall and towered over him. Just as the creature prepared to gut him, a tremor ran through the creature's body. The eyes once again shifted to green and the shadowform collapsed and began to dissipate.

Korey's figure emerged from the black cloud and fell forward into Bobby's arms. Somehow she had maintained consciousness through the transformation, but was exhausted from the struggle. She lay her head in Bobby's lap and sobbed. Bobby didn't have to wonder why: her worst fears had finally been realized. She'd lost control and endangered her friends in their own home. It had to be devastating. Bobby scooped her up from the floor and laid her in a bed. The he sat down and held her hand again, and it almost appeared as if nothing had occurred at all.

Korey awoke the next day to find Bobby sleeping in a chair next to her bed, still clutching her hand even in his sleep. She wondered if he had eaten since the incident yesterday afternoon.

"Mornin' sleeping beauty. You were out like a light for about 18 hours, its 9 in the morning."

"Damn. I can feel it, that's for sure. These beds aren't really that comfortable."

"Picture how snowcone over here feels. He must really like ya kid, I don't think he's left since you got in here."

Korey blushed slightly at that statement, realizing what Logan said was true. What else could have caused him to sit for a 20 hour vigil in a stiff wooden chair, without food or decent sleep?

"Don't even try ta deny it kiddo, I know ya like him too. But that's none of my business so let's stick to the important stuff. Bad news: ya almost killed us all."

"Way to let me down slow there big guy."

"Shut yer mouth. Good news: from what it looked like out here, you managed to gain control of the thing, even for just a few seconds. Oh, and Hank got some _great _observations, apparently. He hasn't shut his trap about your mutation since he woke up from the knockout blow you gave him. I think it's addled his head a little."

"Well that first one's definitely good, second one I'm not so sure about. Also, I _really_ need to use the bathroom, if you could kindly remove Bobby's hand. I think it's frozen in place."

Bobby chose that precise moment to jerk awake, and his face lit up upon seeing Korey awake and not overtly traumatized.

"Speak of the devil. Hey, Mr. Winter Wonderland, your hand's frozen here and I have some urgent business that I need to attend to so if you please…"

"What kind of- oh. Yeah, right away."

Bobby's marathon chair sitting had apparently caused his mutation to devolve a little: the room was ten degrees colder than normal, Bobby was in his ice form and everything he had touched was coated in a thin layer of frost. Upon reverting to normal, Korey bolted for the bathroom and Bobby glanced around awkwardly at Logan.

"I spent the entire night here, didn't I?"

"Most of yesterday too kid. You two seem to be rather close."

"I have no idea what you're talking about" Bobby mumbled in reply, starting to rise from his chair.

"Wait a second kid, we gotta talk." Logan reached over and grabbed Bobby's arm, preventing him from leaving.

"It's pretty clear ya got a thing for her, even Hank has started noticing and you know how he is with social cues. And as far as I can tell, she likes you too. She might joke around but I think she legitimately enjoys it that you spend so much time with her here and elsewhere."

"Wow, I didn't expect this talk from you, Logan. Storm, probably, or maybe even the Professor, but not you."

"Hey, I've got feelings to ya know. And really, this whole thing was Storm and Kitty's idea, they seem intent on playing matchmaker."

Bobby inwardly groaned. If Kitty was behind this, his life was going to be a lot more awkward until he either confronted Kitty or asked Korey out. And confronting Kitty had only worked for Logan when she had tried to set him up with Storm. If he was her next pet project, there was really only one choice.

"Kitty? Oh boy. Lemme guess, you're just trying to make this as painless as possible."

"Pretty much, yeah. But I'm tellin' the truth when I say she likes ya, I'm pretty sensitive to that kinda thing." Logan pointed at his nose. "Pheromones and stuff, y'know."

Bobby still wasn't sure if Logan was just trying to hurry this along or if he was legitimate in his claims. Then again, Logan wasn't known to joke around.

"I'll think about that. And _please_ tell Kitty that if she tries anything like she did with Roberto and Rahne, she'll be stuck in an icecube for a month."

"Consider her warned. As effective as that strategy was, I think the entire mansion is emotionally scarred from that little stunt."

"Thanks Logan."

**Ok I finally finished this, I'm starting to run out of my original inspiration for this story. If anyone has any ideas about where this whole thing should go next, please let me know. Rate and Review while you're at it. I'll let your imagination figure out what exactly Kitty did to get Roberto and Rahne together, because to be honest, I'm not even fully sure myself. I was kinda grasping at straws by that point. And I just found it funny how I somehow managed to fit Logan into the romance-y part. He isn't really that type of guy. I've got a college visit tomorrow, and then another one in a week or so. Much like this story, I really have no idea where I want my life to go, so wish me luck! Panhead out. **


	8. Dammnit Kitty!

**Author's Note- Oh my God it's been so long I'm so sorry I was in Missouri and then I had to work and now school stuff's starting up again and I'm just so busy. It doesn't help that I am seriously out of ideas for this story. I have some stuff I wanna do eventually, but I can't get to that without advancing the story more and I don't know how to do that. So if any of y'all have suggestions LET ME KNOW PLEASE! Rate and review please and lemme know if you like it so far. Plus, a special guest appearance from my personal favorite X-man. You'll just have to read it to find out. Here's my best shot.**

**Chapter 8- Damnnit Kitty**

The next few weeks passed rather uneventfully. Korey continued her workouts and sessions with the Professor, and noticed a definite improvement in her physical body. She didn't really have any opportunities to test the control over the shadowform, but there she hadn't lost control since the incident in the med lab 4 weeks prior.

Bobby also had an uneventful month, continuing his normal routine with only a few changes to try and avoid Kitty, who seemed intent on getting him and Korey alone together. She'd already set up a mysterious "car break down" while Bobby was helping Korey prepare for her driver's test and had phased both of them into a locked closet.

Hoping to avoid these embarrassing antics, Bobby had changed his routine slightly to avoid Kitty, wishing to avoid her wrath. The whole time he thought about what Logan had told him in the med lab that day and tried to get up the courage to do something about it. In the meantime, he was content to just spend time with Korey, and hope Kitty didn't go any further in her efforts.

Little did Bobby know, Korey was having very similar thoughts. She had always had self-esteem problems, like a lot of people, and this wasn't helping. She kinda yearned for Bobby to just ask her out already, not just because she wanted a relationship with him (that would be nice though) but because Kitty's antics were just getting torturous. Bobby had gotten the better end of the deal, Kitty couldn't bust into _his_ room in the middle of the night and spend hours talking to her about how "like, absolutely perfect" the two would be together.

Korey was sick of it, personally, but lacked the gumption to do anything about. So the two continued their friendship, spiraling closer and closer to what seemed inevitable to everyone around them- but not fast enough for Kitty.

And of course, speak of the devil, here she came. Kitty flounced over towards Korey, probably to make some comment about how cute she and Bobby had looked when they walked into the kitchen together. Fortunately, Logan power walked into the room and cut her off, steering Korey into the Danger Room muttering something about late morning workouts and the importance of aerobic exercise.

Korey was glad for the intrusion even though she wasn't exactly sure what Logan was talking about. That was cleared up when he abruptly closed the door and turned to face her.

"You know, she's never gonna let up until Bobby makes a move."

"Wha- oh, Kitty. Yeah, she's been getting pretty obnoxious lately. Thanks for the save there."

"Yer welcome kid, but ya know what I'm sayin' is true. I've been trying to help him along a little, but it's really up ta him to do something. Point is, he's pretty much hopeless, so I'm kinda turning to you to get it done."

"Wait, you want _me_ to ask _him_ out? Bu- but what if he says no? Or I screw up somehow? Or something else. I don't even know how to do this, I've never been in a relationship before, how is this-"

"Calm down, kid. It's not as difficult as you think it is. And… I really don't think Bobby's gonna say no."

"Really What makes you say that?"

""Welll… goddamn, I don't really know how to say this… he kinda likes ya. Like, a lot."

"Really?" Korey asked, maybe a bit to enthusiastically.

"Really. So go for it, before Kitty starts going _really_ crazy. I've had this same talk with Bobby like 3 times already, so hopefully he'll go for ya, but if not…" Logan shrugged "Just remember this conversation."

At that moment, the doorbell rang throughout the mansion. Logan looked surprised: he of all people would know if the school was having visitors and there were none scheduled for today.

The whole school was gathered around the doorway. The other adults in the house were just as confused as Logan- no one was scheduled to arrive.

The Professor finally opened the door, admitting to rather tall figures Korey knew she recognized.

"Bonjour, mes amis!" cried Gambit as he walked into the entryway.

"What the hell are you doing here Gumbo?!" Logan growled, stepping forward as his claws extended.

"Calm down der mon ami, this ain't got not'in' ta do with Magneto."

"He- how you say- laid us off." Colossus added helpfully from behind the Cajun. "This was next best place we think of to go."

Logan relaxed, but only slightly. It was at that moment that Rogue suddenly arrived from her room and was shocked to see the visitors.

"What the hell Swamp Rat? Now you're stalkin' me too?"

Gambit spun around, overjoyed. "Mah cherie! I knew you'd be here!" He ran over and threw his arms around her, causing her to flinch and Logan to tense right back up again.

"Hands off, Gumbo. Ya ain't stayin' here. You've done to much to us already."

"Now Logan, that's awfully rude." Charles broke in. "If what they say is true, this may be the only place for them to stay. And they appear to be speaking the truth. Remy, Piotr, you may stay here as long as you wish, provided you follow our rules."

"No problem mon ami, Gambit's always been one ta follow da rules."

This caused Logan to suddenly drop all hostility and bust out laughing. Gambit's smile only got bigger, while Piotr looked slightly confused about the whole exchange. As the Professor lead the two ex-Acolytes to their new rooms, Korey couldn't help but think that life had suddenly gotten a lot more interesting in the mansion.

**There it is, Gambit and Colossus have joined the X-men. They're vital to my later plans, muhahaha. Anyway, This chapter's kinda stuoid cuz its just a bunch of half formed ideas of mine. Anyway, rate and review and let me know if there's anything you want me to write in here (within reason). I'll try and take it into account. My little couple might have a first date in their near future, or I might introduce the Sentinels or a different enemy. I don't really know. I'll try to update sooner next time. Panhead out.**


	9. New Arrivals

**Author's Note- WOOHOO! Officially have 2 followers now, aw yeah guess who hit the big time. Anyway, Remy and Piotr have joined the X-men following the break up of the Magneto's Acolyte's. How will life change for the X-men? Is Gambit telling the truth about his intentions? What will happen to our new favorite couple (Or mine at least)? Why am I asking all these damn questions? All will be revealed! (Or not, cuz I like making y'all squirm)**

**Chapter 9- New Arrivals**

The next few days were interesting to say the least. The new arrivals were attracting the interest of all the students, in more ways than one. The girls were particularly enamored with Gambit, much to Rogue's chagrin, whereas the guys were more interested in the sparring matches between Gambit, Colossus, and Logan. These quickly became an infamous form of entertainment, as the three easily took on the Danger Room level 12 simulation _while fighting against each other as well_. Needless to say, this led to large gatherings in the control room when the three felt the need to work up a sweat.

Korey, for the most part, ignored the new guests. She knew Gambit and Rogue had a thing, and Piotr was surprisingly shy despite his appearance. He spent most of his time in his room, and she wasn't about to disturb him. Bobby, on the other hand, had somehow become a close friend with the giant Russian. What little time the man didn't spend in his room or working out was spent walking the house and grounds with Bobby and Kurt, who had somehow struck up an odd friendship with the withdrawn Russian.

Korey was intrigued about what they got up to, however, and decided to join them on a walk around the mansion gardens one evening. They started with introductions, as Piotr still only knew Korey as the "devushka oborten' **(girl werewolf)** who threw me around like a doll." After the initial awkwardness of "I could have torn you limb from limb" wore off, Korey was pleasantly surprised to find that, despite his appearance, Piotr was an incredibly gentle man, who only fought for Magneto because he threatened to kill Piotr's family. Korey couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Korey also discovered that Piotr was an aspiring artist, and that he spent most of his time in his room painting. He also had a deep love for nature, and was constantly stopping to smell flowers or observe some insect. The group walked for a little bit, discussing Piotr's artwork and various current events ("I can't believe how badly Disney botched the new Star Wars, I mean a musical number? By Chewbacca? What the hell guys!") before Korey noticed it was time for her session with the Professor. She bid the boys goodbye and took off towards the mansion.

"Thank God, she's gone. Now we can finish that conversation we were having, Pete." exclaimed Bobby in relief.

"I don't know why you don't just ask her out already, bro" Kurt cut in. "I mean, I think she likes you, you should go for it."

"I would have to agree with the blue one. I can see why you like her, and judging by the amount of time she spends with you, I'm pretty sure she likes you as well." the Russian commented.

"It's not that simple guys! What if you're all wrong and I ruin what we already have? I'd never forgive myself if that happens!"

"Bro, I'm totally sure she really likes you, just take the leap man!"

"Also, the one you call Katya will only continue to torment you if you keep waiting."

"Katya? I'm pretty sure you're the only one who calls her that, big guy."

"It means kitten in my language, can you really blame me?"

"Guys, can we focus? I have a serious problem here!"

"Only in _your_ mind dude. An admittedly hot girl, who you like, and everyone can tell likes you, spends every waking moment with you and you think you've got a _problem_! Just ask her out already man!"

"I won't be as blunt as our blue comrade, but he has a definite point. You just have to – how do you say- eat the bullets."

"That's 'bite the bullet' big man, but close enough. Just freakin' go for it Bobby, everyone's waiting for it to happen."

Without responding to his friends words, Bobby turned and walked back into the mansion and sat in his bedroom, pondering what his friends had said. He knew Kitty was never going to let up, and as much as he was sure everyone was wrong about Korey's feelings, he had to admit he hoped against hope they were right.

Having finally made his decision, Bobby began wandering the mansion, eventually finding Korey doing cool-down stretches in the den. He swallowed his anticipation and entered the room.

"Sup Bobby."

"Sup. how was your workout?"

"Y'know, work. Anyway, Pete seems like a pretty cool guy."

"Oh yeah, definitely. As imposing as the guy and his mutation are, he's actually like the least threatening guy I know."

"It definitely seems that way."

"Anyway, the reason I came to find you was, uh, I wanted to ask you something."

Korey's heart rate spiked just slightly. Was this what she thought it was? Finally? Not that she'd been waiting in anticipation but… ok yeah she had been hoping for this. For a while, in fact.

"Uh, I was wondering if you were free on Friday, we could go, uh… do somethin' together."

"You mean like a… date, sort of thing?"

"Kinda, yeah." Bobby blushed slightly. Here it came, the feared rejection. Or maybe not. Korey seemed really flustered. Could what everyone said be true?

"Uh… sure, I guess." Korey finally replied, turning to hide her fierce blush. "What kinda thing were you thinking?"

"Well, uh, I was gonna leave that up to you. Anything's fine with me."

"Good decision, not telling me what to do."

"You really defy all stereotypes, don't you?"

"I make it a hobby."

The pair turned to leave the room only to find that they had gathered a small audience. Gambit sat in the corner, his ever present smile growing even wider as he flicked his cards around. A few of the younger students stood outside, peering in, intrigued. Bobby saw Logan straining to be seen over the small crowd, flashing Bobby a smirk and a thumbs up.

Just then, the crowd parted and Kitty skipped in, a huge smile plastered across her face. Logan small smile suddenly turned back into his usually scowl as he struggled to reach Kitty and stop her from ruining the moment. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her out of the room, but not before she uttered her parting shot at the couple.

"I knew it! I so, like, totally told you so!"

**Hahaha there we go! I'm sure all two of this stories followers are screaming "Finally" after this chapter, much like Kitty in the story. The Russian is probably terrible, but blame Google Translate for that, not me. I think I've found some direction in this story, and I know where I'm headed now. Again, if you want to see anything in particular, focus on other ships, for example, just review and let me know. I will definitely be focusing on Rogue and Remy's relationship more now that Gambit has moved in, but that isn't the primary here. Probably some Kitty/Piotr and Logan/Storm too, but not much. I also have some OC enemies coming up, but not anything too major. Definitely gonna get angsty tho muhahaha I mean what I have no idea what you're talking about. Prepare yourselves for the rise of the Purifiers! followed by the immediate fall of the Purifiers, most likely. **


	10. The Purifiers

**Author's Note- Any Fairy Tail fans out there? No? I don't really care, the newest manga chapter is out and my OTP is officially canon and I can't stop fangirling. I'm a dude, and I'm hardcore fangirling (Gajeel/Levy 4 lyfe!). Anywho. Ima try to finish this chapter tonight too, while I'm inspired, but idk if that'll actually get done. I guess we'll see.**

**Chapter 10- The Purifiers**

Bobby was thrilled beyond belief. He had "gotten the girl" as they said, and he was definitely overjoyed about it. He had a date that Friday, and nothing was going to ruin this week. He was floating on cloud nine, and nothing was going to bring him down.

Except a good fight maybe. The Professor called the X-Men into the living room and explained a slightly disturbing situation. It appeared that the number of Morlocks was decreasing, and while the sewer dwellers normally kept to themselves, the sudden lack of mutant signals from the Morlocks' home had the adults on edge. Something was up and they didn't like it.

With that, the X-men departed to check up on the outcast mutants, and try to see if they could help them. Korey didn't know who the Morlock were, but from what it sounded like, they were mutants that, as Logan delicately put it "definitely ain't eye candy." Korey couldn't imagine living in a sewer full time, but then again, she had done it for a while.

Arriving on the scene, the Professor split the students into groups to search. Pete went with Bobby, Kurt, and Korey, Gambit headed off with Rogue, Logan and Storm, and Jean and Scott shepherded the younger kids through the alleyways. The teams searched and came up with nothing. Even Caliban and Callisto, the Morlocks' spokespeople of sorts were missing. This was even more disturbing to the Professor, and he decided to return to the mansion and figure out what to do.

That's when it all went wrong.

Bobby walked back to the X-Van when he heard a strange 'click' noise behind him. He spun around and saw a man wearing black jeans and a sweatshirt raising a handgun.

Time seemed to slow.

The man aimed the gun at Bobby and released two shots. Bobby quickly shifted to his ice form. He started forming a wall of ice and caught the first bullet, but the second just missed it and hit Bobby directly in the stomach. He fell to the ground as his ice form dissipated,

The instant the shots rang out, the whole group spun to face the man. He flew against a wall a crumpled under Jean and Charles' dual psychic blasts. The New Mutants were frozen in abject terror and Korey was in complete shock.

Logan ran picked the man up by his neck, smashing his head into the wall.

"Who are you?! What do you want?!" he yelled.

The man just chuckled. That sent Logan over the edge. He smashed the man's head again and dug his claws into the man's neck. The man's smile abruptly faded.

"I'm part of a group called the Purifiers. We make it our mission to cleanse you scum from the earth." he spat at Logan. Logan punched the man's lights out and threw his body aside,

That's when it really went wrong. Dozens of men dressed identically to the mystery shooter dropped from the roofs, herding the mutants in various directions, isolating the injured Bobby in a group with Logan, Gambit, Korey, and Colossus. The adults set grim expressions, while Korey still seemed in shock. Bobby groaned in pain as he faded in and out of consciousness, the pool of blood growing every second.

The men surrounded this group, having restrained the other mutants.

"Give up. You scum are hopelessly outnumbered, and if you fight us, you'll end up like him." one said, nodding at Bobby.

"Ya wanna fight mutants?!" growled Logan, extending his claws. Behind him, Piotr armored himself and Gambit charged up a handful of cards.

"Come and get us, mes amis." Gambit taunted, and the powerful mutants attacked. Logan sliced apart handguns and fended off knives, Piotr just gut punched everyone in his way and Gambit blew his opponents away. Korey ran to Bobby and fell next to him in shock and disbelief.

However, there were too many Purifiers. Eventually, Gambit was knocked out from behind, Logan was handcuffed and impaled with numerous sharpened objects and Piotr surrendered when the men threatened to harm the children. Korey was still in in the depths of despair.

She sat next to Bobby's unconscious body, and her sadness turned to rage. the beast inside whispered "Kill them," and for once Korey agreed. She turned to face the Purifiers, and for the first time in her life, she urged the beast to come out. As the creature emerged, she retained consciousness, and watched with glee as the men's faces turned to terror.

Korey and the shadowform acted as one, leaping into the fray. Shots were fired, knives flashed, but she didn't care. She would make them pay. She shrugged off the brutal attacks and proceeded to eviscerate anyone who stood in her way. Two men with assault rifles tried to hold her off; she dispatched them with a single sweeping paw strike. She continued to rampage through the Purfiers' ranks until none remained. She saw Logan approaching her, with a strange look. Was it… fear?

He should be afraid, she thought, they should all be afraid. She looked down and realized what she had done. The shadowform dissipated and she collapsed to the ground sobbing from grief and anger. The world slowly went black, and this time, Bobby wasn't there to hold her.

Korey awoke in the med lab. What a surprise, she thought, but then the memories of the day crashed back over her and she sat upright, trying to see if Bobby was okay. She saw an unmoving figure across the room and the grief came rushing back. She fell back to the bed as her body was racked with silent sobs. Logan entered the room and stood over here bed, but she hardly noticed. Nothing else mattered to her at that point.

The world spun around her and she blacked out once more.

**MUHAHAHAHAHA I am so evil sometimes. You'll just have to wait and see what happens next. I know that might have seemed rushed, but I needed to get that on paper before I forgot about it. I originally planned to have all four of the trapped mutants fight together, but I also felt like I should actually advance the "controlling her powers" plot line while I traumatized everyone. We'll get more info on the Purifiers in the next chapter, but my laptop is dying so that'll have to wait.**


	11. Open Wounds

**Author's Note- Ok, I know my writing kinda degraded in that last chapter, I wrote it at like 1 am and it definitely wasn't my best work. Also, the ending was very sudden. That, however was intentional. I know it was written poorly but whatever. Not like I'm being graded here. Speaking of which, I start school in like two weeks which means my updating will slow to a crawl. Like once a week, If you're lucky. Now here's all the explanations you're looking for (hopefully).**

**Chapter 11- Open Wounds**

Logan had seen his fair share of despair. 200 plus years on this planet had given him that, even if he didn't remember all of that time. But he could tell the sadness Korey carried at that moment rivaled much of what he had seen. Seeing what had happened to Bobby as well as what she had done to the men in the alley had broken her inside.

She lay on the bed, and Logan simply stood over here. He knew nothing he could say to her would help, at least not now. Bobby was still in critical condition, and Hank put his chances of survival at "I have no goddamn idea." Korey was physically fine, but in extreme emotional distress. Logan simply sat in the room and waited for any changes.

The Professor rolled into the room and took Hank and Logan into a corner.

"I've been searching for more information on these "Purifiers" and I've found some things you two ought to know. They are an anti-mutant militant hate group, and are active in fundraising for Trask's Sentinel program. Their leader seems to be a man named Aras Gansen." Logan grunted loudly at this.

"Do you know him Logan?" Hank asked.

"I know of him. He was part of Turkish Special Forces back in the 80's, he got discharged for bein' too vicious and started his own terror cell in the 90's and now this apparently."

"He does not sound like a remotely nice or reasonable person."

"Definitely not. His cell did some dirty work for HYDRA for a while and established ties with al Qaeda."

"Yeah, definitely not nice. So I take it we should be worried if this is the man leading an anti-mutant group."

"Almost certainly Hank. This is cause for great concern. Logan, I hate to ask this of you, but would you be able to track down Mr. Gansen and see what his Purifiers are planning. You're the most, uh, _durable_ of us."

"No problem Chuck, the more we know about these guys the better."

Logan left the room to pack some things while Charles and Hank went to check on Bobby.

"Well, some good news Charles, it looks like his condition is improving since we removed the bullet. I'd say he has a good chance, but it could still go bad pretty quickly."

"That's certainly a good thing Hank. I'm sure Korey will want to know."

Charles rolled over to Korey's bed while Hank performed some more tests on Bobby.

"Listen to me Korey." Charles said directly in Korey's head. "I know that you are distressed, and for good reason, but I wanted you to know that Hank says Bobby has a good chance of pulling through."

Korey lay silently on the bed, curled in the fetal position. Charles knew she had heard him, but she didn't react. He didn't disturb her further, knowing that people grieved differently and she was still raw from everything that had happened.

Charles rolled back towards Hank but before he reached him, a loud crash rang out, followed by numerous gunshots. Hank and Charles spun around, seeking the source of the sound. Hank closed the doors to the med-lab and Charles roused the X-men with a psychic message.

"X-men! Intruders have entered the mansion! East wing near the med-lab!"

Gambit was startled at first by the message but quickly turned and made his way to the breach. He turned the corner and found a battalion of men in Black sweatshirts, like the Purifiers who had attacked them earlier. Logan was slumped against a wall, both arms broken and what looked like a whole clip of ammo in his chest.

Gambit turned to face the assembled men, and his signature smirk reappeared.

"Ready for round deux, mes amis?"

With that, the Cajun unleashed a flurry of charged cards, knocking the group back. Logan rose from the floor, arms snapping back into place and bullet holes closing. He growled loudly, and with a 'snikt', reengaged the Purifiers alongside Gambit. Piotr heard the commotion and ran into the hallway, instantly armoring himself upon seeing the Purifiers.

Together, the three men knocked Purifiers aside like bowling pins. Gambit ran out of cards and smoothly pulled another pack from his ever-present trench coat, quickly flipping it open and drawing more weapons. More of the X-men slowly appeared. Jean flung men against the walls, Cyclops pierced their ranks with his blasts and Kurt teleported into the middle of group, taking it down from the inside.

As the two groups clashed, no one noticed a tall bearded man slip into the med-lab. He walked out, holding the Professor and Hank at gun point.

"This battle is over, scum, unless you want to see your precious Prefoessor kick the bucket."

The X-men paused instantly, searching for a weakness. Gambit's miscolored eyes took in the situation and spotted one solution. He thrust out his hand to touch the wall, charging it and everything attached to it. The very air glowed magenta as he charged the entire wing of the mansion.

"Now it's over, mon ami. Release 'im, homme, or Remy'll blow yo' all sky high. Yo' got ta de count o' trois."

"This is ridiculous. You wouldn't do that!"

"I wouldn't? Yo' don't understand homme, I got no loyalty ta these personnes. Dat's un."

"You'll die too, you fool!"

"Mebbe I will, mebbe not. Remy's got a habit o' sneaking out o' tricky situations. Deux."

"Never! I will die before I spare you mutant scum."

"Trois." Gambit pulled his hand away from the wall and the air hummed with power. The building began vibrating as his power took hold.

"You're- you're crazy! Make it stop, make it stop, I'll let them go, just don't blow us up!"

"Now dat's what Remy likes ta hear." He placed his hand back on the wall and depowered it. The man dropped his gun, signaling the rest of the men to do the same.

"This isn't over scum!" The man yelled as he was dragged off by police. "I, Aras Gansen, will have my revenge!"

"I feel like that's really cliché." Kurt commented as the police loaded up the intruders and rode off.

"Well, at least we took those guys down in one sweep. That could have ended much worse if we hadn't." the Professor replied.

Rogue ran over to Gambit and gave him a huge hug. She then stepped back and punched him in the face.

"Ya idiot Cajun, ya coulda killed all of us!"

"Aw, cherie, Remy'd never do dat. I'd never get ta see yo' pretty face again dat way."

Rogue flushed slightly and Kitty looked absolutely overjoyed. As much as she loved playing matchmaker, Rogue and Remy were her pet project of sorts.

"Ya did good back there Gumbo. You too, big guy." Logan cut in. He had a notorious distaste for the relationship Rogue and Remy had.

"Thank you Logan. Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do." With that, the shy Russian again retreated to his room.

The X-men slowly trickled back into the mansion. Hank returned to the med-lab to check on his patients and was surprised to find Korey missing. Charles rolled in and assured the doctor that she had gone to her room, and since there wasn't anything physically wrong with her, it was probably best to let her grieve how and where she wanted.

"Korey will be much better when and if Bobby recovers. She's just going through a lot right now and it's best to leave her alone." Charles said on the subject.

Bobby was still in pretty bad shape. Hank, after finishing his tests, concluded he had about a 60% chance of survival, probably more because of the advanced medicine they had on hand.

"As long as we watch him and treat the wound, he should turn out okay." Hank told Charles.

"That's very good. But until then, we're down two X-men, and I can tell that even though Magneto has defected, our battles have just begun."

**There we go, that turned out pretty good actually. Much better than the previous chapter. Anyway, more Rogue/Remy for ya, and some angsty stuff with Korey. I wrote this whole chapter listening to Norweigan power metal, so I was a bit inspired by that for the battle sequence. Gambit sure is crazy! Not as crazy as Pyro though, who I'm toying around with throwing into the story again at some point. Again, any ideas you guys want to see, let me know, and I'll see what I can do. Panhead out. **


	12. Wake Up Call

**Author's Note- Alright, once again I'm sorta running out of ideas. Just a warning, this chapter is probably not gonna be great unless I get some crazy inspiration halfway through. Also, it has been brought to my attention that there actually **_**are**_** people who care about this story, which makes me very happy ****. Anyway, I think I'm gonna go ahead and bring Bobby back, his, uh **_**inconvenience**_** is really cramping my writing. We'll see I guess.**

**Chapter 12- Wake Up Call**

Korey lay on her bed in the darkness. She hadn't eaten or slept since the first attack. It was now almost 2 am, and she still lay awake. She had grown restless though, and needed to talk to _someone_. She finally rose from the bed and walked into the dark hallway.

At first she just wandered. She sat in the den were she had been when Bobby had helped her that night that felt so long ago. She walked into the kitchen, and down the hallways past Cerebro and the Danger Room. Eventually, she found herself standing outside the med lab.

She stood there for a few minutes, working up the courage to enter, to face what she couldn't face before. She opened the door, but didn't enter right away. She finally braced herself and entered. She walked slowly through the darkened rows of beds, past Hank's workstation, to the bed in the far left corner.

Bobby lay there, still shirtless and wrapped in bandages. He was still very pale, but seemed healthier then when she had last seen him. For a while she just stood, watching him breath, hoping that it wouldn't suddenly stop. She could feel the grief rushing back- and the guilt: you could have stopped this, _should _have stopped this, should have done _something_-

'No' her more logical side cut in. There was nothing she could have done to prevent this. All she could do now was help him recover. As he had always watched and protected her, now she would watch over him.

She sat down in the hard wooden chair next to his bed. She took his cold hand- cold, because of his mutation, she thought, not because he was dead. There she sat, for many long hours until morning, holding Bobby's hand and eventually, she dozed off.

Hank entered the med lab early the next morning, preparing for the worst but hoping for the best on Bobby's condition. He was slightly surprised to find Korey sitting next to the bed, but was much more surprised at which of the pair was awake. Bobby sat up against the headboard, Korey's hand clutching his as she slumped in the wooden chair.

"Hmph." Hank commented "I ought to get some more comfortable chairs in here."

"Speaking from experience, yes, you definitely should Doc." Bobby replied. "I've been awake since about 5:30, before you ask."

"Any pain or anything?"

"Just some soreness, but I would think that's typical of getting shot."

"Honestly, I wouldn't know, I was never that kind of doctor. We'll keep an eye on it just in case."

"Well now _that's_ comforting. Just kidding, doc, I trust you."

Later in the day, Korey woke up. She opened her eyes and looked over at Bobby, doing a double take when she saw him awake. She sat in shock for a minute, then snapped out of it and threw her arms around him.

"Don't you ever leave me like that ever again." she whispered into his ear, tears of happiness streaming down her cheeks.

"I'll try not to, princess."

Korey broke the hug. "Don't call me that" she said smiling slightly. She paused for a second, working up courage, then leaned him and kissed him on the cheek. "You know I hate it."

"But you look so cute when you do that little frown thing."

"Oh, look at you two, you're a couple already."

The pair whipped around to see Kitty's head sticking through a wall. Logan slid around a corner and ran into the room.

"Sorry you two, I tried ta stop her."

"No, no it's ok Logan, I want her to hear this." Bobby answered. He turned to Korey and looked her in the eyes. "Since the whole 'getting shot' thing kinda ruined our plans, I want to ask you again. Korey, do you wanna go out to dinner with me on Friday?"

"I'd love to, Bobby." She turned to Kitty. "There you go, you happy now?"

"Very." she replied, then turned and flounced out of the room, grinning widely at Logan as she passed him.

It was Friday, date night, and Bobby was surprisingly calm. Having gotten what he viewed as the hardest part over with, the date itself should be a breeze. He had gotten reservations at a nicer restaurant, nothing too fancy, and he was currently checking his hair in a mirror he had made of ice.

He walked out into the hallway and found Korey waiting for him. She looked stunning, having let down her dirty blond hair and re-dyed her red and purple accents.

"Hurry up slowpoke, it shouldn't take _you_ longer to get ready then _me_."

The pair made their way outside (Scott had lent Bobby his car, though not exactly willingly) and were surprised to find Rogue sneaking out of her bedroom window. Korey was about to ask her what was going on when Gambit suddenly appeared from around the corner. Rogue turned to the couple, looking slightly concerned.

"Uhh… don't tell Logan, you two. Pretty sure he wouldn't like it that much."

"Not a problem Rogue, it isn't Logan's business what you do in your spare time."

Bobby and Korey returned home at around 10:30, both extremely pleased with how their first date had gone. Bobby walked Korey over to her bedroom: the two were tired from a full day and had decided to go straight to bed.

They reached Korey's bedroom and Korey turned to say goodbye. Bobby paused for a second and then leaned in and kissed her. Pulling back, he whispered good night in her ear the turned and walked away.

Korey stood there for a minute in shock, her hand drifting up to where his lips touched hers. She smiled slightly, then turned and entered her room.

**That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would end up. A little rushed at the end maybe, but I've never been good at writing romance so sorry if anyone found that cringe-worthy. I'll try and get another chapter up tomorrow, but I gotta work so I don't know if that'll work out. We'll see. Sorry for not giving you date specifics, but like I said, I've never been good at that kind of writing. Rate and review lemme know what you think. It's good to know at least a few people are actually interested in this story. Thanks for that. Panhead out. **


	13. Peace at Home

**Author's Note- Alright, so I'm writing this chapter, and once again, I have no idea where I want it to go. Also, I realized that I have completely forgotten to include some details I mentioned at the beginning of the story; specifically, the tattoo Korey is supposed to have on her hand. Read Chapter two, its in like the second sentence. Anyway, I had forgotten about it so… just, like pretend it doesn't exist. Sorry about that if anyone was wondering. Also, SORRY ABOUT THE LATE UPDATE I've had a terrible case of writers block. **

**Chapter 13- Peace at Home**

The next week was the happiest of Korey's life. Kitty had stopped pestering her, having refocused her attention on Rogue and Remy's relationship. Korey couldn't help but laugh at this, as she knew, unlike Kitty, that the two were already dating. She didn't want to spoil Kitty's fun however, so stayed silent.

The mansion was ramping up for the school year- the mutants would continue to attend the town's high school, and Jean and Scott would be teaching part time while attending a local community college. Korey was a bit nervous to start the year at a new school, but she had made plenty of friends among the residents of the mansion, so it couldn't be _that_ bad, could it?

In the meantime, Korey continued her regular sessions with the Professor. On this day, the Professor surprised her by arranging their meeting in the Danger Room instead of his office. She had a strange feeling about this.

"Korey, we have been making impressive progress in your control. I believe it is time we tested that control. Don't worry, the chamber will be empty, so there is no chance of hurting anyone. Are you comfortable with this?"

"I suppose. I've kinda been wanting to see how much I can control the thing in a controlled environment."

"Good, very good. I think we'll start off with the Sentinel program, that should provide a little challenge for you."

Korey entered the Danger Room as the Professor booted up the computer. He activated the Sentinel programming, setting it to level 3. While he wanted the program to be difficult enough to induce a transformation, he didn't want Korey dead.

The simulation started and a scene of an empty warehouse appeared in the room. Korey looked around, trying to find these Sentinels everyone kept talking about. Suddenly, three huge robots appeared.

"Oh… that's what the Sentinels are." Korey said with a slight frown.

The trio looked down at her, and began to stalk towards her. "Mutant signature detected. Engage and eliminate."

Korey sprang out of the way as the three Sentinels attacked. Dodging huge limbs and laser bursts, she ran from the robots. She knew, however, that the point of this was to unleash the beast. She ran to a corner and focused inwards. Feeling the creature straining to fight, to destroy its enemies, she slowly but surely dropped the walls keeping it in.

She felt the familiar sensations, nearing complete black out. She fought that off however, maintaining consciousness as the shadowform was unleashed. She expected it to immediately leap at the approaching Sentinels, but it held back. Korey realized with a shock that it was _her_ that was holding it back. She was stopping it! She looked down and gestured with her arms, watching the creatures limbs respond.

She looked up at the Sentinels. She felt the creatures instincts kick in- she knew exactly what to do and how she could do it. She leapt at the first Sentinel, clinging to its neck and ripping out its hydraulics and cables with the beasts claws- her claws, she reminded herself. The first robot fell and she used its momentum to swing into the legs of the second, knocking it down.

She scrambled up the Sentinel's lower body, destroying as she went, she climbed atop the robot's head and ripped out an especially important looking bundle of wires. The machine fell, and Korey jumped directly into the third Sentinel's face, slashing at it eyes. The final robot felled, Korey slid to the ground. She focused on the beast within, trying to force it back inside. After a brief struggle, the creature folded to her will and retreated back from whence it came.

Korey stood in shock for a moment, and then turned towards the control room with a huge smile creeping across her face.

"I did it! I- I can control it!" Korey yelled up to the Professor in jubilation. Charles smiled as she celebrated and the simulation shut down. He met her in the hallway outside the room and she couldn't have been any happier. She thanked the Professor profusely, then skipped happily down the hall to tell anyone who would listen what she had done.

Bobby sat in his room, desperately trying to finish his summer reading homework he had so badly procrastinated on. He sighed loudly. Couldn't his teacher pick a less boring book? Honestly, the last thing he wanted to do in his last weeks of freedom was read Huckleberry Finn. He had a whole list of other things he'd rather be doing, and hanging out with Korey was definitely near the top…

Speak of the devil, she pranced into his room with a huge smile on her face. She walked up behind him and gave him a hug from behind.

"Oh, you're reading that piece of crap. That book has the distinction of being possibly the most boring book I've ever read."

"I know right? Why is it that these so-called "classic" books are so boring? Anyway, what are you so happy about?"

"Well, I just had a session with the Professor in the Danger Room and…"

"And what? You got your butt handed to you?"

"No, you idiot, I could control my powers! I kicked some major Sentinel ass too!"

"That's awesome! I knew you could do it. You just needed a little… push." Bobby turned around slightly and kissed her. "Now what do you say we go hang out and you can summarize this stupid book for me later?"

"I'm up for that. What'd you have in mind?"

"I thought I'd leave that up to you."

"Good idea."

**There we go, finally, an update, I know. Also, this is probably gonna be the last chapter for a little while, I have a family vacation coming up for Labor Day and I won't be able to update while I'm there. Anyway, I hope you like this. I think it's a good place to stop off at for a week or so. I've been having these spontaneous ideas for another fanfic I'm in the process of working on, so hopefully I can get that going at some point. Also, sorry if any of you like **_**The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn**_**, but I legitimately think it is one of the most boring books ever, but definitely not the most terrible. That distinction belongs to **_**Beloved**_** by Toni Morrison. *shudder* Anyhoo, have a nice Labor Day weeked y'all! Panhead out.**


	14. The Queen's Gambit

**Author's Note: I'M ALIVE! I HAVE BEEN SO BUSY WITH SCHOOL. I mean seriously, two hours of calculus homework our first day back? What the heck man! But anyway, I will continue to write! I really have no idea what is gonna happen here (but again, that's not at all unusual). I'll come up with something I guess. This may wind up being a Romy chapter, just cuz. Probably Gambit's perspective. Yeah, let's go with that. Romy fluffy filler chapter,this oughta test my fluff writing abilities mumble mumble….**

**Chapter 14: The Queen's Gambit **

Gambit's POV

Gambit watched this exchange with some amusement. He had a habit of peeping in people's windows, it was just his thief's instincts. Rogue called it pervy, but he really couldn't help it. He chuckled softly and crawled along the mansion's exterior wall until he reached the Southern beauty in question's window.

He fiddled with the lock while skillfully avoiding the motion sensors that lined the mansion's walls. This really was _too_ easy. He'd have to talk to Hank about the holes in the security sytem…

The lock bent to his will and he slipped into Rogue's room completely unnoticed. She laid on her bed, listening to her music and reading one of her books. He crept up behind her. She really ought not lay away from the window like that, Remy thought. He sidled up behind her and glanced over her shoulder.

"Ohh, _How to Get Any Man in Ten Easy Steps_. Yo thinkin' o' pulling sometin on moi, cherie?"

Rogue instantly tensed and let out a tiny shriek of surprise. She spun around and glared at the Cajun.

"Why do ya keep doin' that? And it's Kitty's book, not mine!"

"O' course it is. And I do this cuz I'm a t'ief, mon cherie. It's just in ma nature."

"Well stahp it, Swamp Rat! Ah swear Ah'm gonna have a heart attack one day!"

"Aww, cherie, I'm hurt. I t'ought yo liked mah little surprise visits."

"Well… I- I guess I do…"

"Hehe, so yo' might say yo like having me in yo room alone, right cherie?"

"No! Shut ya dirty mouth, Swamp Rat! Even if that was true, its not like we could actually do anything… "

"Awww, cherie, I din't wanna make yo sad. Here, dis'll cheer yo up."

Gambit lunged at her and began tickling her relentlessly. Gambit was the one person who was perfectly comfortable touching her despite her mutation. Rogue rolled out of his grasp, but he jumped after her and continued his assault. The two chased each other around the room. Rogue judo flipped Gambit into a wall, but the Cajun simply used it as leverage to grab Rogue and drag her across the room.

Rogue tripped the Cajun and he fell onto Rogue's bed. He dragged Rogue with him and the Cajun wound up on the bottom, with Rogue straddling him.

"Hmmm, whoever dat book belongs ta, da stuff in it works."

Rogue suddenly noticed her rather promiscuous position. "Shut up!" She tried to climb off of him, but Remy pulled her back on top of him. Their faces were only inches away from each other. Rogue's white streak tickled Remy's cheek and the Cajun smiled as he gazed at her beautiful face.

Rogue rolled off of Gambit. "Ya know we can't do anything."

"Oui, but dat don't mean I can't look at yo, beautiful."

"Ah bet ya say that ta everyone."

"Yo would be surprised den, cherie. Now whadya say we go out ta eat or somethin'?"

"We'd hafta duck Logan's surveillance."

"Surveilance? Dat's what yo call the joke of a security system yo got? Cherie, I can duck Claws's surveillance in da time it'll take yo ta count ta cinq."

"Well then Swamp Rat, what's takin' ya so long? Let's go!"

**Yeah, yeah, its really short and total filler but I kinda hope you enjoyed it at least a little. I'm working on moving the actual plot forward, but it could take a while. Between work and school… yeah make that a possible LONG while. Sorry. I'll work on it, and I promise that it will be out within a reasonable about of time. Probably within the month. I hope. I'm gonna shut up before ya'll hate me even more.**


	15. The Hellfire Club

**Author's Note: I am soooooo sorry for being gone for so long, and my crappy excuse for an update last time. Though looking at it, more of y'all read that then the chapter before it but that's none of my business…. Anyway, I will be attempting to move the plot forward (finally) in this chapter but I really don't know what to do about it so… I may just add another OC villain (or maybe someone you already know? hehehe). Sorry if all of this is making your head spin. Again, please forgive my heaps of bullcrap, and please review and/or give me suggestions about the story. I'd really appreciate it!**

**Chapter 15: The Hellfire Club**

School had started up again for the members of the Institute. It was putting a serious strain on the X-men's training and relationships. The young heroes could only handle so much stress, and being mutant vigilantes had yet to win them any get-out-of-school-free cards.

Korey worked diligently on her studies: she had a lot of time to make up, having spent over a year on the streets trying to escape from herself. She struggled with some of her classes, but Bobby or one of the older students always helped her out. The next month was rather uneventful, thankfully, because Korey wasn't sure she could handle the heroics and trigonometry at the same time.

Little did the X-men know, but the whole time, they had no idea they were being watched.

Far away from the Institute, a women rose from her chair. She reached up and pulled the helmet from her head. Her pure white hair tumbled down here back as she strode out of the large empty chamber. A group of men and women, concealed by shadows, looked up at her as she approached. The man at the head of the table spoke.

"What knowledge have you gathered for us?"

"The X-men are preoccupied with their school work, but have had a quiet month in terms of attacks. It is time that be changed. White Bishop, you shall put pressure on the children."

"It would be my pleasure, my Queen."

"Good. Soon it will be our time to strike."

Korey walked out of the Danger Room, sweating profusely. Since she had gained control of her powers, Logan had been cranking up the difficulty of her training sessions. Even though she wasn't the physical one fighting, keeping the shadowform under control was completely exhausting.

She leaned up against the wall to relax. As she tried to slow her breathing, she felt a slight rumble coming from inside the Danger Room. _That's weird, Logan already had his evening workout…_

Korey walked back into the control room and was shocked to see a smoking crater in the middle of the Danger Room floor. Logan crawled from the crater, his leg clearly broken and spitting expletives at the stranger standing above the crater. The man appeared to have some sort of high tech suit or something; he looked like a robot with the exception of his long golden hair.

Korey leaped from the shattered control room windows down into the room. She unleashed the shadowform but before it could materialize fully the man turned towards her and shot electricity from his hand, knocking her out cold.

Logan turned towards the man and felt his leg snapping back into place.

"Ya made a mistake comin' here, White Bishop. now I'm gonna have ta kick yer ass."

"I think we all know that isn't how it's going to happen _James_."

"Really wish you'd stop callin' me that."

Logan leapt at the man, his claws cleaving his head clean off. The disembodied head simply laughed as the body walked over, picked it up and reattached it. The man grabbed Logan and effortlessly tossed him up and through the ceiling to the floor above.

Scott and Kurt were enjoying a rousing game of Monopoly when Logan exploded through the floor and smashed into the table.

"Aww c'mon man, I had a hotel on Boardwalk!"

"No time, White Bishop, GET OUT OF HERE!"

The White Bishop in question flew out of the hole Logan had left in the floor and promptly kicked Logan into the fridge, electrocuted Kurt and grabbed Scott's glasses off his face, leaving him stumbling with his hands over his face.

Logan growled loudly and tackled the man into the den, surprising the seated Jean and Piotr. Jean sent a psionic blast at the man, which he somehow reflected back at her, throwing the redhead out of the room. Piotr armored himself and joined Logan in grappling with the impossibly strong man.

The White Bishop observed his surroundings and calculated his tactics with his computer-like brain. Seeing his opponents weakness, he acted accordingly. He reached out and grabbed Logan's claws, simultaneously putting Colossus in an arm lock, then letting current flow through his mechanical limbs. Logan and Piotr tensed as the electricity flowed across their various metal parts.

Seeing no new adversaries, White Bishop turned and jumped back down into the Danger Room to complete his second objective. He was surprised when an unseen adversary suddenly launched himself into the room, slinging icicles at him. He promptly dodged the attack and walked over to the wall. He ripped open a conduit and after some brief fiddling, activated the Danger Room's built in training equipment.

The Iceman occupied, White Bishop retrieved what he came for and left through the hole he had smashed in the wall to get in.

Korey awoke in a strange place she didn't recognize with a pounding headache. She sat up and saw a room that spoke of opulent luxury- a massive fireplace took up one whole wall, and the trim appeared to be gilded. At that moment, a women dressed all in white entered the room through huge mahogany double doors.

"Welcome to the Hellfire Club, Korey. You can call me Emma Frost."

**Alright, finally! In case any of y'all don't know, the White Bishop is actually Donald Pierce, a cyborg who is in the Hellfire Club, of which Ms. Frost is a member. Other members will be appearing later. Sorry if my perspectives are confusing, the second half is kinda in Pierce's perspective. Anyway, please rate and review and leave some ideas maybe please? Or at least what you think of this new story arc of sorts? **


	16. The Offer

**Author's Note: So how bout that for a cliffhanger? Fortunately for y'all, I have some extra free time so you're getting a new chapter earlier than anticipated. Maybe. Anyway, prepare to meet the rest of the Hellfire Club. Or some of them anyway, I hope their not to OCC for any of you who actually know anything about them that isn't on Wikipedia. Cuz that's how I roll. Anyway, here you are.**

**Chapter 16: The Offer**

Korey looked at the women who had introduced herself as Emma and wondered if this was real of if it was some hallucination from her electric shock.

"This _is_ real, Korey. My friend the White Bishop, ahhh… _recovered_ you from the mansion after you were knocked unconscious."

"Wait how…"

"Ahh, I forgot to mention. Much like your Professor Xavier, I am an accomplished telepath. That's how I knew your name and what you were thinking. Now anyway, where are my manners. Welcome to the headquarters of the Hellfire Club."

"And what exactly is that?"

"The Hellfire Club is a society for people with… special abilities. Mutants and humans alike. The reason you are here is because I have an offer for you."

"I doubt you can give me anything the X-men haven't already."

:I would disagree. I believe you would be a cherised member of our society. In addition, I, as a telepath, can help you with your abilities just as Xavier did. The Hellfire Club also has substantial financial resources, as well as a similar goal to the X-men's. You would be valuable here. Can you say that about the X-men?"

"Y'know, I don't think I like you dissing my family like that. I want out: let me go."

"See, it isn't going to be that easy." Korey looked down and saw her hands and feet were bound with… adamantium? Son of a bitch…

"See, you aren't going anywhere for the time being. That'll give you plenty of time to consider my offer."

Everything suddenly started happening at once. The door exploded open in a blast of ice and freezing wind, the fireplace suddenly erupted in a silvery blast and a snarling man with claws dropped down through a skylight.

Almost immediately, Frost's cohorts stepped out from the shadows. A large man in a business suit flexed and punched Logan clean through a wall into the next room. The strange man from the attack on the mansion appeared next to Piotr in a silvery flash and electrocuted the large Russian for the second time that day. Bobby ducked and wove as Emma threw chairs and bricks at him with here telekinesis.

Frost suddenly turned towards Korey with a strange smile. She reached out towards her and Korey felt her restraints come loose. Confused she stood up and ran towards Bobby. Suddenly she collapsed as she felt a sickeningly familiar sensation in her stomach.

Bobby was confused and relieved as Korey approached him. Suddenly she collapsed and her eyes flashed a familiar shade of obsidian. The shadowform materialized, but this time, it's eyes glowed the same color white as the strange women standing in the middle of the room.

Bobby suddenly realized what was happening. Somehow this women (a telepath of some sort, clearly) had taken control of Korey's shadowform and was using it to attack him.

Bobby leapt to the side as Korey- that women, he had to remember, Korey wasn't in control- and a fierce battle ensued. Bobby couldn't injure or contain the shadowform at all, but he was fast enough to avoid it's swinging strikes.

Bobby had neglected one thing though- the White Bishop was still in the room. He ran up behind the young X-man and unleashed thousands of volts into his icy body. Frost forced the shadowform back and restrained Korey's unconscious form. Moments later, The strong man, Sebastian Shaw, also known as the Black King, returned with an unconscious Wolverine slung over his shoulder.

"What should we do with them? We can't let them return to the mansion, they could locate us again." the Black King asked.

"We can put them in the chamber. It will be able to hold even Wolverine and cannot be breached by telepathy from the outside."

"As you wish White Queen."

Logan was the first to awake. His healing factor dulled his aching limbs but didn't alleviate the pain. He groaned and looked around. He was surprised when it appeared that he was laying with Colossus and Iceman on the floor of the Cerebro chamber. He realized this was impossible: the Hellfires would never let them leave after they found they're hideout.

Unfortunately, this left only one option: the Hellfire Club had somehow managed to build their own version of Cerebro, which meant they had probably been watching the mansion for a while now.

Bobby groaned as he awoke.

"Damn, that smarts. That's the second time today that guy git me."

"I told ya not ta come snowbrain. You're a liability."

"I couldn't just stay and wait, they got Korey! I- I couldn't just leave her with them."

"I get it kid. Still, we need to find a way out of here. Is the big guy awake?"

"Yes Wolverine, I am conscious."

"Try and break down the door. I doubt you'll be able to, but try it anyway. Bobby, try and pry off some of those wall panels. I think I have a way to get us out of here. Any of ya got cell reception?"

Korey awoke in a fog. She vaguely remembered Logan busting in and maybe Bobby… Bobby! That Frost lady had used her to attack him! That bitch!

Korey struggled against her restraints briefly, knowing it was useless. The only way she was getting out is if Frost let her out. Not at all likely. The woman (and she used that term loosly: she-devil was closer) in question was sitting at the large table in the room with several other shadowy figures.

She recognized a few of them. The mansion attacker was there, as was the larger man who attacked Wolverine. She even saw a few people who looked vaguely like famous CEOs… was that Steve Jobs? Couldn't be, he was dead…

No time to ponder that now. Korey took in her surroundings, trying to find some way, _any way_ to escape. Her thought process was interrupted by yet another explosion. She whipped around and saw an armor clad figure standing in a newly formed hole in the wall.

"Who the hell are you?" someone at the table asked.

"I am an acquaintance of someone you are holding here. And as much as I hate him, I owe him a favor." the figure replied. It stepped out into the light and drew a katana from a sheath on its back. It blazed with reddish light in the darkened room, reflecting off the figure's armor.

"Prepare to face the wrath… of the Silver Samurai!"

**Hahahaha how's **_**that**_** for a cliffhanger! and you're actually gonna hafta wait this time, cuz I have a kind of insane week of school and work this week. Have fun waiting! Btw, Silver Samurai is technically not OC or AU because he appears in Evolution! One episode, I know, but it's an appearance! **


	17. Bladed Wrath

**Author's Note: Having foreseen the inevitable "Why the hell is Silver Samurai helping Wolverine?" questions I have put together this explanation: When Logan disgraced Silver Samurai in their duel, he was removed from the family and exiled. Soon after, a Yakuza uprising killed all the family's hierarchy. Silver Samurai was spared because he was no longer a member of the family. Although he hates Logan for disgracing him, because of Logan's actions, his life was spared and his honor code requires him to repay the debt.**

**There, happy now? No? Now stop complaining and read the damn story.**

**Chapter 17: Bladed Wrath**

Korey stared at the man. _This_ was the Silver Samurai? The fearsome warrior who had almost beaten Logan in a duel to the death? _This_ was gonna be good.

Immediately the members of the Club leapt at the intruder. The man from the mansion- Black Bishop was it?- struck with lightning curling from his fist. The Samurai easily dodged the attack and struck, his sword moving almost too fast to see.

Black Bishop's arms fell to the ground, severed at the elbows. Another flash, and his torso was separated from his legs. Stepping over the disassembled body, the Samurai struck relentlessly. The large man from before took a swing and was judo flipped into the next room.

A woman- the British one who had asked who the Samurai was, Korey realized- stood and a katana appeared in her own hands. A single sweep of the Samurai's blade destroyed it and sent the woman flying.

"No force or creation of man can stop my blade" the Silver Samurai boomed as he cut through the ranks of Hellfire members. "It would be wise if you gave up."

"Never!" Frost screamed and she turned her mental eye towards Korey. She could feel the beast lurching inside and was struck by an insane idea.

"Harada!" she shouted out to the man, remembering his name from Logan's story about him. The man snapped to face her, clearly surprised.

"That woman is going to use my power against you, but if you let me go and I use it first, she won't be able to!"

Hesitating for only a second, Silver Samurai swung and split her adamantium bonds in a single sweep. Korey quickly released her shadow form, hoping against hope that the thing's mental resilience would stop Frost from controlling it while it was already unleashed.

Somehow, this ruse worked. Once the shadowform contained her, she could feel Frost's mental probes, but they had no effect. Korey turned, gestured a thank you at the Silver Samurai, and then scampered off to find her friends.

Logan and the others were having little luck freeing themselves, and Logan could only hope Silver Samurai's honor code brought him to the rescue. The door was suddenly shredded from the outside and Korey's shadowform tore through the opening.

"God, am I glad ta see you kid."

Korey herself was surprised when she tried to speak- the shadowform's voice was impossibly low and hoarse, but she could talk.

"Yeah, you're friend Harada is kicking some major ass up their."

"I wouldn't call him a friend, exactly, and yeah, that's kinda what he does. When he's not running a Japanese crime ring."

"Well anyway, we should probably go help him out, I'm pretty sure I saw Steve Jobs up there."

"Yeah, he's actually a mutant. Super genius, techno-path. Had to fake his own death to get away from Mister Sinister." (**Hell yeah, Steve Jobs is in the Hellfire Club, he's definitely rich enough)**

The group ran upstairs and found the samurai in question standing above a large pile of Hellfire members in various states of incapacitation. Silver Samurai glared at Logan.

"Consider my debt repaid. I will take my leave now, but our next meeting will not be on these friendly terms."

"I can accept that. Thanks for that though."

The Samurai cracked a grin at that.

"Always cleaning up your messes for you, Wolverine. Sayōnara."

With that, the Silver Samurai stepped back out the hole he had cut in the wall and disappeared into the night. The large man- Black King, had they called him?- groaned but was cut off by a loud smack. The group turned around to find Colossus hunched over the man's unconscious form.

"I feared he would awaken."

"Nice one Pete. Now c'mon, we gotta tell Chuck about the Cerebro knockoff we found."

The Professor was starting to get concerned. The party that had gone after Korey had not been heard from in over three hours. It wasn't like Logan to disappear with students. By himself, maybe, but not with company.

His thoughts were interrupted when the doorbell rang and Logan's group- and Korey with them, the Professor noted happily- entered.

"Man, have we got a story for ya Chuck. Somehow, the Hellfire Club managed to build a copy of Cerebro. Frost has been watching us. She's got an army of members from all over qued up to take us down."

"Interesting. Anyone in particular that you noticed?"

"Shaw, Leland, Pierce, that British lady with the psychic blades."

"Ms. Braddock? I wasn't aware she had fallen in with them."

"Nahh, that other woman. Emma Steed was it?"

"That could be interesting. She has a telepathic immunity."

"Hey, could _someone_, like tell us what's going on?" Kitty exclaimed.

The Professor sighed. "I suppose you must know now that the Hellfires have moved against us. The Hellfire Club is a huge, multinational organization consisting of those who are both incredibly rich and specially… talented is the best word, I suppose. Most are mutants, and powerful ones at that."

"I could tell." Korey responded "That cyborg dude took all of us out in like under two minutes, and Frost… well, she's quite powerful in her own right."

"I've had run-ins with most of them." Logan growled "Not nice people, and most of them could take all of ya out in a heartbeat if they really wanted to. In other words, really bad news, Kitty."

"What Logan says is absolutely correct Kitty- and all of you really. The Hellfire Club is incredibly dangerous. You all need to take a new interest in your training." The Professor turned to face his students with a grim look on his face. "Our greatest battle has now begun."

**Okay, it's been a little while so I reread my entire story, just for shits and giggles I guess and noticed a **_**ton**_** of continuity errors. Sorry about that. Just kinda… ignore them I guess. I'm not going to point them out in case some of you missed them like I did. Also, I have a TON of ideas for new stories, some of them the future of this storyline, others a new AU. Google up "Order of X" and check out some of the art. None of it mine, but freaking sweet nonetheless. So yeah, this story'll probably be wrapping up fairly soon, but expect more!**


	18. Primo Victoria

**Author's Note: Alright, I'm not sure if this'll work or not but… I'm gonna try and wrap up this story in this chapter. Not sure if I can finish up this plot in that amount of writing, but I'm gonna try it anyway. I have an awesome idea for the finale involving all sorts of extraneous characters et cetera. Quite the flashy occasion if I do say so myself. It'll be either this chapter or the next but it is ending soon. Sorry for all of you who were enjoying this story. I will be continuing this AU in future stories, as well as writing new ones, so keep an eye on that if you want more.**

**Chapter 17- Primo Victoria**

The Professor spent the rest of that day and much of the next confined in his office. Logan left on his motorcycle almost as soon as Charles ascended to his chambers. The rest of the students weren't entirely sure what they were doing there, but they knew it couldn't be good.

The Professor later moved into the Cerebro chamber, trailing numerous files and lists around him, muttering things about allies and hiding places. Logan reappeared for 20 minutes or so before riding off again on his bike. Gambit spent over two hours speaking mad-fast French on the phone and Scott was having an ongoing text conversation at the same time.

All this confused Korey greatly, but most of the other students seemed to have a basic grasp of what was happening. She didn't really understand until the people started showing up.

The first ones to show up were with Logan. He returned with a smaller girl on the back of his bike and an entire convoy of rather official looking trucks behind him. The girl entered the mansion, and Korey was surprised to see she bore an incredibly startling resemblance to Logan. The trucks opened and a large number of uniformed troopers jumped out, led by a rather ornery man with an eye-patch. He directed his men to the back yard where they began running drills.

More people started trickling in. A strangely dressed boy with a mechanical arm arrived soon after, closely followed by rather tan boy who immediately ran up to Scott and began catching up. Storm greeted the next arrival as "Evan" and then turned to take care of the several shy, strangely pale guests who arrived with him- the Morlocks, Korey presumed.

A rather attractive man in a trench coat was the next arrival, heading directly to the Professor's office while shedding feathers everywhere. A helicopter landed on the back lawn and Gambit and Rogue ran out to greet them, conversing in unintelligible French with what Korey presumed was the leaders of the Thieves Guild. A tiny sickly looking boy and his mother arrived and were immediately shown to a room.

The entire mansion began filling with guests. The staff-wielding Thieves Guild sparred with the troopers, while Logan, the eye-patch man and Gambit discussed strategies. The final arrival was by far the most shocking, however.

The doorbell rang for about the seventh time that day, but when Logan ran to answer it, there was a shout and a sudden flurry of the activity by the door. Korey ran to go see what was going on and was shocked to see Magneto and Pyro standing there, with a green haired girl Korey had never met standing behind them.

Logan was in understandable distress. He wound up to take a swing at Magneto when…

"Logan! Stop! I invited Magnus here on my own accord. He is here to help us."

"Then why the hell did he bring the pyromaniac with him? How useful can he be?! And who the hell is _that_ chick?"

At this Magneto began hovering in indignation. "You may have a problem with me, _Wolverine__**, **_but my daughter is not a part of this. We are here only to help."

Logan looked shocked. "Wait, daughter? That ain't Wanda…"

"Yes, daughter. Polaris here is my other daughter. She has agreed to help us" Magneto turned and glared at Wolverine "On the condition, of course that she is treated as any other member of the team."

Logan was silent and stood aside to let the group in. The students were shocked as well but decided to stay silent. After all, Magneto was easily one of, if not the strongest person in the room.

Xavier called everyone together in the living room, the only room big enough to hold all of them. "As I'm sure most of you know, you have been gathered here to help the X-men combat one of the greatest enemies we have faced. We do not know what the plans of the Hellfire Club are, but we must not allow them to succeed. Combat them in any way possible. I will seek them out in Cerebro, and then we must destroy them at the first possible opportunity."

With that Charles left and the groups began to converse amongst themselves. Rogue started talking to Gambit and his family, Havok and Polaris started up a shy conversation (**Hell yes I'm shipping them, it's canon in the comics)**, and Pyro started poking around Fury's eyepatch. X-23 was enveloped in a group of giggling girls and Scott engaged in a very serious conversation with Angel.

Charles returned rather quickly with information. "Many of the members of the club are incredibly powerful and able to shield their signatures. However, there is a large concentration of some of the less powerful ones around the Grandview Hotel downtown. We should go to check it out. However, some of us should stay behind in case this is a ruse. Magneto, you will stay with Pyro, Angel, and the Thieves Guild to guard the mansion with Hank. The rest of us will move to observe the members at the hotel."

The group divided, the X-men moved to the Blackbird, Polaris transported the extraneous members in Magneto's transport orbs and the S.H.E.I.L.D agents loaded back into their trucks. They made their way downtown as stealthily as a supersonic jet, a military convoy and a group of floating metal orbs could.

They arrived at the hotel and grouped in a back alley. Korey saw several limos sitting out front, with several members she recognized standing around them. The group snuck around the building and Polaris threw one of the limos into the lobby as Fury's troopers stormed around the corner. The Hellfires were caught off guard, but counter attacked with vicious ferocity. Korey shifted into her shadowform and sprang into the fray.

Back at the mansion, Magneto stood atop the mansion surveying the grounds as Angel kept watch overhead. Without warning, two large black helicopters flew over the horizon and landed in the front yard. Angel swooped down as Magneto raised the alarm. The final battle for the X-men's future had begun.

**Ok maybe it won't fit…**

**Sorry about that. It'll be the next chapter. I promise this time. Also, Ima start a new story right about nowish check out my profile for it maybe.**


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